Twitch Valorant Streams

Riot Games is changing the esports marketing game. For the closed beta of their second full game, Valorant, Riot decided to drop keys during livestreams of the game on Twitch. This encouraged marathon watch parties for avid Riot fans, and record spikes in viewership of the game on Twitch.

During closed beta, hype for a game can often dwindle after the initial announcement. In this drop, Riot cleverly created an inclusive way for many fans to control their access to the game, while increasing hype in droves. With such a successful strategy, everyone’s asking — what game will roll out this strategy next?