Nearly four years since its launch, VALORANT continues to grapple with a classic shooter behavior. Tea-bagging and shooting dead bodies are once again making headlines in the competitive world of VALORANT after Matias “Saadhak” Delipetro admitted to receiving a warning from Riot Games.
The Argentine player and captain of LOUD was threatened with sanctions if he continued to “heat up” the match against Leviathan in the VCT: Americas Kickoff. As expected, the VALORANT community and esports enthusiasts quickly jumped into debate.
The LOUD vs. Leviathan Encounter
In the match between LOUD and Leviathan, the heat of a duel between Brazilian and Argentine organizations spilled over outside and inside the server.
In the closely contested series, Saadhak and several LOUD players utilized tea-bagging and shooting dead bodies in an attempt to distract Leviathan. However, the Argentine IGL and his team incurred the displeasure of Riot Games, who warned them of possible penalties.
Saadhak’s Revelation
This situation was recounted by Saadhak himself during his Twitch stream. The LOUD player revealed that Riot Games warned him not to continue this “toxic behavior,” or else face sanctions. Amid laughter and bewilderment, Saadhak shared this, igniting a controversy that has been brewing in VALORANT for years.
Community Backlash
Within hours of Saadhak’s declaration clip going viral, the VALORANT community began to criticize Riot Games’ stance. The developer and producer of the tactical shooter has once again taken a stand against a classic act in shooting games, and the community is beginning to grow weary.
🚨 AGORA: Durante a live que está sendo feita agora, Saadhak fala para o chat que chegou a tomar um aviso por ter cavado o corpo do Kingg na última partida, e aí, vocês acham que a medida foi justa ou é algo de jogo? pic.twitter.com/6isbXMD5cF
— 🌐 QG DA LOUD (@qgdaloud) February 26, 2024
Professional Players’ Criticism
Among the many criticisms, those of professional players stand out, as they view Riot Games’ stance as nonsensical. Tea-bagging and shooting the ground are part of VALORANT’s folklore and are inherited from historic shooting titles like Counter-Strike and Call of Duty.
Moreover, most players have confirmed that these “disrespectful acts” are confined to the server and do not lead to ill treatment between players outside the game.
Riot Games’ Position
With Riot Games taking a stand once again, we must seek to understand why. It is likely that Riot Games identifies these acts as the root of fan hate between teams. While tea-bagging may not offend professionals, some fans tend to lose their cool witnessing such provocations, leading to hateful messages among spectators.
Riot Games likely aims to prevent such reactions within its community, but attempting to eradicate these behaviors from a player’s DNA seems a more challenging task than ignoring upset chat participants.
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