Global Esports, the Indian esports organisation and long-time VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Pacific partner team, officially announced that it will shutdown down its competitive esports operations entirely and not participate in the next VCT partnership cycle beginning in 2027.
The decision was delivered by Co-founder and CEO Rushindra Sinha in a video posted on X. Sinha explained that the exit was not a sudden reaction to the 2026 results or to Riot’s partnership decisions. In November 2025, when Riot Games contacted partner organisations about their future plans ahead of the new cycle, Global Esports had already indicated that 2026 would likely be its final year in competitive esports.
He also clarified that the organisation deliberately chose to exit competitive gaming and pull out of the VCT ecosystem on its own terms, rather than being rejected or forced out through Riot’s downsized selection process. Riot is moving from ten partner teams per region to eight and shifting toward a more open tournament-based format in which partnership primarily guarantees Kickoff participation, after which performance determines further advancement.
Sinha cited the operational and financial demands of sustaining a full competitive roster under the new structure, along with the risk of player attrition, as factors that made continuing unattractive once the organisation had decided to pivot: Sinha also officially confirmed that while Global Esports is shutting down its esports operations, the organisation is rebranding and redirecting its resources to GE Studios instead, described as an AI-powered media and technology venture. Sinha has pointed followers to the organisation’s website and related early-access links for further information on the new direction.
Global Esports was founded around 2017, entered VALORANT in 2020 and became a VCT Pacific partner team in 2023. Over nearly a decade it had previously fielded teams in titles such as Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Overwatch and PUBG Mobile before concentrating on VALORANT.
Global Esports was not the only organisation unable to secure a VCT partnership slot. At the same time, several other teams around the world have successfully entered the partnership program. The complete list of confirmed organisations and the latest updates are available on our VCT partner teams live tracker.
