Why Has NRG Not Signed a Valorant Roster?

There's a lot of buzz surrounding Valorant right now, and many top esports organizations have either already made a Valorant team, or are actively looking for hot new talent for their roster. However, American professional esports organization NRG Esports is not one of these orgs. Why has NRG Esports not signed a Valorant roster? And will they in the future? Let's get into it.

In a recent episode of the NRG Duo podcast, Co-CEOs of NRG, Hector Rodriguez, and Andy Miller started talking about potential future games for the organization to break into. Andy posed the question to Hector, saying „Okay, so if you could choose the next three games for NRG to get into, with your decision based on a combination of your passion and what you think is a smart business move, what would it be?… I could give you three to choose from… Halo, League of Legends, Valorant.

Hector said „No“ to Halo, „Yes“ to League of Legends, and „No“ to Valorant. They went on to say that they've had a look into Valorant, but right now decided to take a step back. As for why the gist of it is that Valorant is still a new game that is evolving. NRG is cautious about jumping into Valorant esports and investing money in players when they can't be sure whether the players or the Valorant esports scene will stand the test of time. With the intense hype surrounding Valorant, many players have been offered substantial salaries, and this sets a precedent for what a pro Valorant player can expect to make in compensation. So, not only is the Valorant esports scene uncertain, but it could be a significant financial risk for esports organizations. Hector said, „I like Valorant, but it's too early for the amount of money that is being spent on it“.

Of course, the flip side of this argument is that no one wants to miss out on the next big game in esports, and Valorant could be this game.

However, NRG esports seem sure of their decision to hold back, at least for now. In a Reddit post this week, Hector, under the username „Hecz“ answered the question again. A fan asked „Valorant team anytime soon?“, and Hecz responded, „Trying. The space is crazy right now. Costs are through the roof. I think we want to take our time and build from the ground up“.

There were rumors that NRG was attempting to build a Valorant roster a few months back, with sources claiming they were in talks with players. If this is true, then it seems they canned the idea at some point due to the cost of players. The other reason could be that the talent pool simply dried up due to the sheer amount of esports organizations looking to build their Valorant rosters. Maybe NRG was in talks with players, but these players were snapped up by other organizations that can afford to pay big bucks – 100 Thieves comes to mind.