Dubai, 22 October 2020: Riot Games MENA has today announced the launch of its inaugural VALORANT Strike Arabia tournament that will see the best teams test themselves and bid to become champions in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
As part of the series of global First Strike competitions, Riot Games is to stage a two-phase tournament for the MENA region with Strike Arabia to be held between 1st and 25th November. To be held simultaneously, Strike Arabia will consist of three tournaments across three different Arab sub-regions.
Teams from the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman, will compete in the GCC event while the North Africa tournament will be represented by teams from Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. Teams from Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt will also participate in the Levant and Egypt tournament.
Registration for the tournament is now open and will close at 12pm (UAE time) on 31st of October.
The top three sides from each region will then qualify for the First Strike MENA tournament between 3rd and 6th December and continue their quest of becoming champions of the region.
To help gain more exposure and enable fans across the region to follow the action, the Strike Arabia double elimination matches will be streamed VALORANT Arabia’s Facebook, YouTube channels and Twitch channels.
Matches will be streamed from Sundays to Wednesdays every week between the 1st and 25th November on Valorant_Arabia Twitch channel, Facebook page and YouTube channel. Riot Games MENA will regularly share updates about the matches and timings on their Twitter, Instagram and Facebook pages.
Ahead of the competition, Riot Games MENA has also announced Logitech as its official Peripheral partner. As a multi-brand company that specialises in designing products, Logitech has established itself as one of the leading organisations in the esports industry, creating innovative equipment as well as sponsoring esports teams around the world.
The staging of the tournament is part of Riot Games MENA commitment to provide opportunities for gamers to participate in a competitive environment, identify potential talented players and engage with fans.
It comes after the launch of the Middle East servers and Arabic language support for VALORANT as Riot Games aims to grow its fanbase and establish it as one of the most popular first-person shooter games in the MENA region.
First Strike MENA is part of a series of regional tournaments organized by Riot Games around the world, each crowning the best team in their respective region. This series, known officially as First Strike, will kick off the VALORANT competitive scene and offer a preview of the future of esports in 2021.
Luciano Rahal, PR & Communications Manager at Riot Games MENA, said: “We are delighted to launch our first VALORANT tournament in the MENA region. Staging Strike Arabia will provide that opportunity for VALORANT players to put their skills to the test and be recognised on the competitive stage while also battling it out to reach the First Strike MENA competition.
“Since the launch of VALORANT in June, an increasing number of gamers are playing VALORANT in the region and we expect a big turn-out for the first edition.
“Riot Games has big plans to develop VALORANT into one of the biggest competitive games in the world and this first edition of the tournament will serve as the launchpad for the esports scene in 2021.”