Riot Games explain what Iceland's VCT Stage 2 Masters LAN mean to the scene

Earlier this month, Riot Games revealed Iceland as the host for the upcoming VALORANT Champions Tour Stage 2 Masters, marking the first major LAN tournament for the tactical shooter. Considering the pandemic situation, no team has had the opportunity to make a true international appearance.

In a recent interview with The Washington Post, Executive Producer of Global Esports Events, Troop, and Senior Director of Global Esports, Whalen Rozelle, discussed the thought process behind choosing Iceland and what they want to achieve from hosting the event.

Troop explained how naturally a LAN environment allows for players to showcase how high their level of talent can really go, and pitting international teams against each other is always exciting to watch.

“What we want to deliver to players and to our audience is peak competition, and competition is best delivered when we can gather all the teams together and let them play in an LAN environment where there’s no network disruption to inhibit their play in any way. That really was the North Star for how we approached these events in Iceland,” said Troop.

Meanwhile, Rozelle expressed the studio’s hopes and aspirations for VALORANT to one day pull in the same numbers League of Legends does. The decision to host both games’ major tournaments in the same city is Riot Games’ way of hoping to bring more attention to VALORANT.

“We do hope one day that ‘Valorant’ is played and watched all over the world in similar numbers to ‘League of Legends.’ We know the strategic depth, but we haven’t seen it yet. I don’t think we’ve scratched the surface of what pros can do.”

Which region do you think will surprise us the most at VCT Stage 2 Masters? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!