vzd | Markus

Everything @LudwigAhgren is saying here is 100% fair and accurate. Let's do the math: 1. To support a Valorant challengers team like the 2026 M80 roster which won NA would be approximately $500k annually give or take. That's 5 players, 1 HC and 1 AC/Analyst on monthly salaries + travel etc. For us to take this roster into the new ecosystem and compete we would have to make EVERY Cup + at least ONE Masters event to just break EVEN on the investment into the game. If we miss even 1 cup we are down six figures. If we miss a Masters its an even bigger hole. Most teams cannot afford to take this risk for so little return. It's financial suicide. We could just look to drastically reduce salaries but then you are just in a race to the bottom. Playing T1 Valorant is a full time job and you have to be able to pay people full time wages. I would rather go do something else than pay players a fraction of what their time is worth. It's sad because there are many t1 Valorant players in North America who will miss out on opportunities to have a career. Sucks to even write that to be honest. 2. Competitive Integrity. This will be an 8 team league in Americas and there should be no doubt about that. Any non-partnered team that has an inch of success or develops an amazing talent will lose those players at the first break in the season to partnered teams and have to start building chemistry over. Agents will insist on their players being moved to partner teams and if you try to retain them you will be holding them back. This is fair as the best salaries and financial opportunities will only come from partner teams. This, even more so that the financial picture, is the real reason M80 will not compete in Valorant in 2027. It's just a completely unlevel playing field and that's not something we are interested in. I got into esports because of Valorant. We launched M80 with a Valorant roster announcement. It breaks my heart to leave. We love the game and the community and would love to return in an instant when things make more sense. I look forward to that day.