FUT Esports Partners with Riot Games for 2023 EMEA VALORANT League
Turkish esports organization, FUT Esports, has been selected as one of Riot Games’ partners for the 2023 EMEA VALORANT league.
The final spot in the EMEA league was kept a secret until Riot’s recent official announcement. Nine organizations, including KOI, Karmine Korp, Fnatic, Vitality, Natus Vincere, Heretics, BBL Esports, Giants, and Team Liquid, were already accepted. This left fans speculating about the last organization to enter the league.
FUT Esports was established in April 2017 and joined the competitive scene of VALORANT in October 2020 with the signing of their League of Legends team. Currently, FUT Esports consists of an all-Turkish roster including players Buğra “mojj” Kiraz, Doğukan “qRaxs” Balaban, Konur Alp “qw1” Şahin, Furkan “MrFaliN” Yeğen, Serhat “Muj” Yüksel, and coach Eray “GAIS” Sarıkaya.
In 2021, FUT Esports participated in VCT Turkey and the VALORANT Regional League Turkey in 2022, following their failure to qualify for EMEA Challengers One in January. Their notable achievement this year was winning the VRL 2022 finals against Vitality in August.
FUT Esports’ inclusion in the 2023 EMEA league means that Turkey will be represented by two teams, FUT Esports and BBL. Turkey brings a significant audience to VALORANT tournaments and is home to one of the world’s best players, Acend star Mehmet Yağız “cNed” İpek.
The VALORANT partnership program encompasses 30 teams and three leagues: EMEA, Americas, and Asia. The inaugural tournament for this program will be held in São Paulo, Brazil from February 14 to March 5.