Ninja and Pokimane have been subject to some backlash after Riot gave them exclusive streaming rights for the Valorant Championship Tour, with many fans expressing this disagreement with the decision.
Riot’s decision to hand out streaming rights exclusively to Ninja and Pokimane has been one of the least appreciated decisions by the community. As complicated as their streaming policy is, “rebroadcasting the content from a current stream while adding live commentary and/or video.” For someone to produce a co-stream, they must have special permission.” it is hard for anyone to get the streaming rights.
“Saw some comments abt valorant co-streaming, I had no idea pros wanted to stream it but couldn’t. I agree they should be able to! sorry to those who were disappointed, wish it was up to me” said Pokimane. She acknowledged that Riot’s decision was different from what she would have made if it were upto her after she was made aware of the situation by the comments.
Riot Games’ choices with streaming rights have been questioned at multiple points on their titles besides Valorant. Many have spoken out supporting Ninja and Pokimane, namely Team Liquid member Average Jonas. “I love how people are silly enough to criticize @Ninja for being there when he actually has tons of competitive exp in Valorant. The same goes for @pokimanelol who has played the game since Beta and is a great role model for our community. NA scene is booming” he said.
Both sides are right in their own place but calling Ninja and Pokimane undeserving of co-streaming rights is wrong. Riot might as well take a lesson from this backlash and come up with a better and more constructive broadcasting policy for their events.
Also Read | How to Make a Square/Box Crosshair in Valorant
