Riot removes Bleed Esports from VCT as Boom Esports takes last Pacific spot

Riot Games has announced its decision to remove Bleed Esports from the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) after failures to comply with “critical reporting requirements.” Filling the vacated 12th spot in VCT Pacific will be Boom Esports instead.

Bleed Esports has officially lost its spot in the most prestigious Valorant competition. The Singaporean organization has had its team slot in VCT Pacific revoked by Riot over a litany of “critical” clerical issues.

“After careful consideration, Riot Games has made the decision to remove Bleed Esports from the Valorant Champions Tour and VCT Pacific,” an October 4 announcement read.

“Bleed Esports was terminated due to failure to comply with critical reporting requirements and other key obligations under the Team Participation Agreement (TPA).”

“Due to persistent operational failures of the team, Bleed Esports will no longer participate in VCT Pacific to protect the best interest of the players in the league.”

All players impacted by the org’s removal, a team that once housed the likes of former Valorant superstar yay, were allegedly notified as early as possible so they could “explore other opportunities.”

With the 12 VCT Pacific spot vacated, Riot is promoting Ascencion Pacific 2024 runners-up, Boom Esports, to the final spot. This means the competition will move ahead with the full 12 teams as planned.

While the exact nature of clerical issues wasn’t publicized, one prominent insider in the space has suggested it related to players waiting extended period for promised payments.

Bleed Esports addressed the matter in a statement shortly after, claiming they were notified earlier in the day.

“We are deeply disappointed by this outcome, but we respect Riot’s decision and willcontinue to cooperate with them throughout this process.

“Over the last year, we have been in constant communication with Riot to address issues related to our deliverables in the TPA. Unfortunately, we were unable to rectify these issues in a satisfactory manner and the decision was made to terminate our participation in VCT Pacific.”

Despite the removal from VCT Pacific, Bleed Esports outlined how the org is still eligible to compete in Challengers, the lower rung of local competition.

It looks as though Boom Esports wasn’t clued in on the big news ahead of time, however, with the team’s official X (formerly Twitter) account all too confused by the announcement.

“What the hell is happening?” Boom Esports tweeted moments after news broke. Boom Esports came nail-bitingly close to securing the 12th spot over Sin Prisa Gaming at the Pacific Ascension event, falling 15-17 in a fifth and final map.

Now, the team gets a lucky break as Bleed Esports is left behind.