It’s official.
Bren Esports is officially out of the Valorant Champions Tour 2021: Stage 3 Masters – Berlin.
Riot Games, who failed to secure the necessary travel visas for Bren Esports, made the tough announcement on Friday night.
“Ahead of Masters Berlin, Riot Games worked to secure the required travel permissions for every qualified team,” Head of Competitive Operations for Valorant Esports Alex Francois said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, with tightening travel restrictions around the world due to changing COVID-19 developments, we were unable to secure the necessary travel visas for Bren Esports, the number one seeded team from Southeast Asia.”
Francois said that Riot Games explored multiple solutions to bring Bren Esports to Berlin, even contacting government agencies to try and expedite the process to no avail.
And with only a week away from the prestigious tournament, they had no other option but to move on without the top-ranked Southeast Asian squad.
“Over the past month our global mobility teams in North America, Europe, and Asia explored multiple avenues to find a solution, including engaging with relevant governmental agencies in the Philippines and Germany,” Francois continued.
“But at this time, having passed the final deadline that would allow Bren Esports to travel and attend the event, we are going to proceed with a 15-team tournament,” he said further.
Bren Esports, who currently has 2013 points – the highest in the SEA region, topped the VCT 2021: Southeast Asia Stage 3 Challengers after taking down Paper Rex in the best-of-three grand finals.
The Bernard Chong-owned team is set to take on South Korean squad F4Q in Group D, joining world champion Sentinels and home team G2 Esports.
This could have been the biggest accomplishment for a Philippine FPS team.
With Bren Esports out, Riot Games changed the Group D format into a double round robin with the top two squads advancing to the eight-team elimination stage.
“As a result of this decision, the format of our tournament will be modified and Group D, where Bren Esports was placed, will pivot to a double round robin, with the top two teams advancing to the Elimination Stage,” Francois explained.
Still, Bren Esports will be given a total of 175 points for qualifying as well as the associated prize.
“Bren Esports will be awarded 175 VCT points and the associated prize for qualifying into Masters Berlin. No other group will be impacted, and the tournament will conclude with an eight-team single elimination bracket,” said Francois.
“This was a tough decision and we share in the disappointment of our players and fans. Despite this setback, we are proud of Bren Esports’ achievements in VCT so far and look forward for their participation in future events.”
