Here's how crypto-betting in Valorant is ruining ranked games

Fariha Bhatti Published 09/01/2023

Valorant throwers now have a solid reason to ruin ranked games and it’s even more dangerous.

Every online multiplayer game has a litany of problems like cheating, griefing, and trolling— and Valorant is no exception. Thankfully, Riot is in close touch with the community, which is why severe problems get resolved quickly. But, still, savvy players are relentless in their quest to ruin games for others.

Players typically throw games to get a kick or just because they are salty. But now, they have a reason. Turns out, some players have been making money through Valorant crypto-betting. While it sounds harmless initially, the throwing has raised concern among serious players.

Valorant players are throwing games for crypto betting

Betting is pretty common in esports. In fact, it’s the bread and butter of many gaming titles. Professional bookies and casual fans love to bet on the game’s outcome to make a few dollars, ultimately leading to the growth of a massive betting industry. What’s not OK is match-fixing, which often comes as a complete package deal with dirty betting.

Now, match-fixing to win bets was previously limited to large-scale traditional esports matches. Still, it’s now entering ranked games in the form of crypto betting, and everyone from casual players to pro players are mad.

https://twitter.com/tdawggVAL/status/1611496964171993091

Valorant crypto-betting is frustrating. Not just for casual players but professionals as well. Using third-party websites, players often bet on ranked live games they are part of. In order to win in crypto, they would start throwing games. This happened to many popular Valorant streamers, now joining forces to fight back.

Sometimes, these players would be on the enemy team and purposefully let the streamer win. This only happens when they bet in favor of the enemy team. In both cases, Valorant match integrity becomes compromised, squeezing the fun out of the competition. Unfortunately, crypto-betting has become exceedingly common in 2023, and pro players are speaking against it.

This is not a one-in-a-million case. In fact, many streamers claim to have encountered a thrower in their ranked games since the crypto-betting wave. For this reason, notable Valorant personalities are considering a private 10-person server to stream in peace, as this betting mostly happens on live-streamed games.

https://twitter.com/tarik/status/1611522666418274305

There are multiple other solutions, but all of them will result in a highly shrunk-up Valorant player pool. Casual, ranked queue time may increase drastically, resulting in frustrating games. But this issue requires an urgent fix from Riot Games.

So far, the game developer has yet to acknowledge the problem, but it will likely not go unnoticed. It remains to be seen how Riot tackles this issue and fixes ranked integrity in Valorant.

Fariha Bhatti

About Fariha Bhatti

Fariha Bhatti is a long-time gaming writer who loves competitive FPS games and slots with particularly fun themes. She got her start playing classic games developed by SNK, from legendary fighting game series The King of Fighters to challenging platform franchise Metal Slug. She now spends most of her time playing Valorant and Counter-Strike 2 while working her way through new slot releases to find her next favorite. Fariha has been published at PCGamesN, TalkEsport and ONE Esports.

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