Global Esports exits Valorant after first VCT Pacific title

Global Esports is leaving competitive Valorant and releasing its entire roster to free agency, founder and CEO Rushindra Sinha has confirmed. The decision ends the organisation’s place as a VCT Pacific partner team just weeks after its first title in the competition.

GE won the VCT Pacific Stage 2 grand final in Busan in September 2026, overturning a 0-2 deficit to beat Nongshim RedForce 3-2. The victory made it Pacific’s top seed at Valorant Champions in Shanghai, where its run ended in Group B.

A title-winning season ends

In Shanghai, GE lost 1-2 to Team Vitality, beat EDward Gaming 2-0 and then fell 0-2 to LOUD in the decider. Its Pacific trophy was the organisation’s first VCT title and made it the first Indian-owned team to win VCT Pacific.

Sinha described the announcement as “the official last day of Global Esports as a competitive roster”. Players can now speak to other teams, while every player and staff member is free to sign elsewhere.

The decision had been under consideration before the title-winning season. Sinha said GE told Riot in November 2025, when partner teams were asked about their plans, that 2026 would likely be its final year in esports.

Why the partnership is ending

Sinha pointed to Riot’s new partnership terms for 2027. He said retaining the roster would have required GE to run an entire organisation around one team, a prospect he did not consider sensible. He also did not want to obstruct the players’ futures, saying: “Even if one player left, the entire thing would crumble.”

VCT is reducing partner teams from 10 to eight per region and moving to an open, tournament-based season. In 2027, partner status will guarantee a place at Kickoff, but not a route through the rest of the season regardless of results.

The Pacific, Americas and EMEA Kickoff events will each feature eight partners and four Open Qualifier teams. Partners that perform poorly at a Cup or Masters will move into Open Playoffs, as other teams do.

What happens next

A group that retains at least three of GE’s five players under a new organisation could keep its points under the 2027 rules. It remains unclear what will happen to GE’s Pacific partner place: Riot has named its 2027–28 partners in the Americas, EMEA and China, but a Pacific list has not been confirmed in the reports cited.

The brand’s next project is GE Studios, which Sinha said will use artificial intelligence to build on GE’s work over the past decade. No launch date, products or team structure have been announced.