Andrej “babybay” Francisty is reportedly swapping VCT Americas for a fresh start in China, only weeks after helping G2 Esports reach the final four at Champions Shanghai. According to Sheep Esports, the American is set to join Weibo Gaming for the 2027 VCT China season. That would make him one of the most surprising names on the move in an off-season that has already seen T1 reportedly build around TenZ.
Neither Weibo nor babybay has confirmed the deal, although the pieces around him have moved quickly this week. G2 said goodbye on November 3, thanking him as a “caster, sub, coach, teammate” in its farewell post, and its VALORANT account then listed him and valyn as free agents looking for a team. A day later, the player agency Ocelot Sports welcomed the 21-year-old to its books on X.
G2 moves on from babybay after a top-four Champions run
The timing is what makes the move so striking, because babybay is coming off the most successful year of his career. He had retired at the end of 2023 and was working as a VCT Americas caster when G2 called him up in 2025. His job was to cover for Nathan “leaf” Orf in the early weeks of Stage 2, a split the team went on to win.
That stint earned him a full starting spot for 2026 once Jonah “JonahP” Pulice left for Sentinels, and the results followed straight away. G2 finished second at Americas Kickoff and reached the top four at Masters Santiago, where Paper Rex knocked the team out, before beating Leviatán in the Stage 1 final to claim another Americas title.
Masters London proved a harder trip, however, as G2 lost to Xi Lai Gaming and FUT Esports after skipping straight to the playoffs. The team then went out of the Esports World Cup in the group stage, and a fourth-place finish in Stage 2 left its Champions hopes resting on circuit points.
G2 still squeezed into Champions Shanghai as the fourth Americas seed, and it saved its best form for last. Wins over TYLOO, Team Liquid, 100 Thieves and T1 carried the team into the final four, where a rematch with 100 Thieves ended the run before LOUD beat Team Vitality in the grand final.
None of that changed G2’s plans, though, since the organisation had reportedly decided before Champions to replace him with Eduardo “Sato” Nagahama from Leviatán. In October, the same outlet also reported that babybay had stayed on in China after the event to weigh up offers from local teams.
Weibo Gaming jumps from China’s second tier into a partner slot
For Weibo, babybay would be the first headline signing since Riot named it one of eight VCT China partner teams for 2027, confirming what earlier reports had suggested. Riot revealed all 32 partners on October 22 and said more than 100 organisations had applied, but Weibo had already celebrated its place three days earlier.
The slot is a big step up for an organisation that has spent most of its VALORANT life on the fringes. Weibo first fielded a team in 2020 and missed out when Riot handed out partnerships in 2023, then left the scene before returning in April 2026 with a multinational roster built around Indonesian veteran mindfreak.
Results in the second tier were mixed, and the best of them was a third-place finish in the Pro Division of the China National Tournament’s Split Alpha this spring. The project changed again in July, when Weibo appointed former Fnatic head coach Milan de Meij for the rest of the season.
A fresh rebuild has already begun, too, since Korean sentinel player AcMe announced on November 3 that he was looking for a new team and listed Weibo as his former side. The club has not revealed its 2027 lineup, and the reports so far do not say who will play alongside babybay or whether Milan will stay in charge.
Partner status hands Weibo a Kickoff spot in Hangzhou
That partnership carries real weight in China, which Riot says will follow a slightly different structure from the other three regions. Partner and visitor teams go straight into Kickoff and the first two Cups, and the China Kickoff will feature eight partners, two visitor teams and two sides from the open qualifiers.
According to Riot’s 2027 calendar, the Kickoff window runs from January 14 to February 7, with Hangzhou hosting the China event. The first Masters follows in Seoul from February 20, while the two China Cups head to Wuhan and Shanghai before Champions moves to Austin in September.
babybay will not be the only established import heading to China for 2027, since a familiar face from the Pacific is reportedly following him. The same outlet has reported that Malaysian star Khalish “d4v41” Rusyaidee is expected to join Xi Lai Gaming, the partner team that knocked G2 out of Masters London.
Both will be chasing a trophy that has eluded the region ever since EDward Gaming won VALORANT Champions in Seoul in 2024, which remains the only Champions title China has won.
