February 4, 2025
The VCT Game Changers Championship 2024 just wrapped up, breaking records with over 460,000 peak viewers and becoming the most popular Game Changers event ever. At the center of this incredible success were the Raidiant tournament admins, including Heartout, whose work played a key role in making it all happen.
Each year, Riot provides a large-scale platform for marginalized genders to showcase their Valorant skills and find a launchpad into the esports world. Over time, Game Changers has become a cornerstone for aspiring professional players, offering them the chance to compete at S-tier production levels—thanks to the dedication of organizers like Raidiant. However, bringing such tournaments to life is never as easy as it may appear to a viewer behind the screen.
From managing the complexities of competitive logistics to creating a welcoming and fair environment for players of marginalized genders, admins pour their hearts into making sure every event runs smoothly and lives up to the promise of Game Changers. This year, Heartout was one of the admins behind the scenes, steering women’s esports to new heights.
In this interview, Game Changers 2024’s tournament admin Heartout reflects on their journey, the skills they honed, and the pivotal moments that made the 2024 championship a milestone for the Game Changers initiative.
Interview with Game Changers 2024 tournament admin Heartout
This year’s Game Changers was statistically the second most popular women’s esports tournament ever. What do you think was different this year in terms of tournament organization, production quality, or community engagement that may have contributed to this success?
Heartout: When it comes to this year’s Game Changers, a key component that I believe was a key to its success was the care that Raidiant put into community engagement with the observer streams for the open qualifiers. It allowed talent like Zhobiii to have their own streams with other casters and get engaged with their communities.
What does being a Head Tournament Admin entail, and how does it differ in the context of a program like Game Changers?
Heartout: Whenever I explain being a tournament admin to someone who is not in gaming, I say it’s almost like being a babysitter, and I don’t mean it in a bad way!
As a tournament admin, you make sure all players and team staff follow the rules set by the tournament organizer and/or game developer. We’re here to make sure things run smoothly and running on time with teams starting games. Also, communicating with the broadcast if it’s a streamed event/match. I was so scared to admin my first game back in 2023, but it’s so fun and easy once you get the hang of it!
Working a large-scale tournament like Game Changers must come with its own unique challenges. What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in organizing and managing Game Changers tournaments, and how did you overcome them?
Heartout: One of the biggest challenges at first was putting my foot down with the teams/players. A lot of these players were people I competed alongside back in 2021-2022. I had to get away from, “these are my friends I don’t want to boss them around,” to, “I have a tournament to help run smoothly so they need to listen when I tell them to be ready.”
When it comes to any tournament, especially the main event for Game Changers, things need to run on time. I came to realize they weren’t going to hold it against me if I told them enough is enough with the goofing around. There’s plenty of time to meme each other in voice chat during the game, and trust me, these gamers love to troll each other mid-game.
Can you share a specific moment or event during your time as Head Admin that made you particularly proud?
Heartout: Honestly, it isn’t a specific moment that has to do with working as a tournament admin, but it does make me really proud to see all these players grow individually and with their teams. Seeing how far the players and community have come in the past years is amazing. The first player from Game Changers was signed to a Tier 1 team last month! Excited to see Flor thrive in EMEA with Apeks. I hope we see more Game Changers players signed to Tier 1 teams.
Inclusivity is a core focus of Game Changers. How do you ensure a welcoming and fair environment for all participants?
Heartout: By always listening, learning, and making sure people feel safe and heard in the space created for them. When I first started competing in Game Changers back in 2021-2022, crazy how it’s been almost three years, I struggled with understanding a lot of terms. I’ve always been someone who strived to be inclusive with my spaces on social media, but I realized I was still naive and ignorant of a lot of identities. It took me a couple of months to fully understand it, but I stayed open-minded. I listened, and I asked my friends questions when I didn’t understand. That’s how I try to ensure a welcoming and fair environment,
What skills or lessons have you gained from your experience in this role that you didn’t expect?
Heartout: Patience is key when it comes to tournaments, especially online. So many things can happen, and so much can go wrong that is completely out of your control. I think it was the first open qualifier of 2024, and we had to hold all matches for an hour or two. I forgot the complete timeline of events, but multiple players suddenly had internet issues, impacting several games. We had no clue what was going on till our savior Aloe/Ali discovered it was an ISP that all the players had in common.
It sucks for the players to pause a tournament because they get iced out from not playing, so they’re not happy, and we’re not enjoying ourselves either because you don’t know when the ISP issue will be resolved. That night truly taught me you just have to be patient and can’t worry too much when it’s something out of your control.
What advice would you give to someone aspiring to take on a role like yours in esports, particularly within programs that champion diversity?
Heartout: Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there for anything. I started helping out with volunteer mod work on Twitch for a tournament organizer. One day, they randomly needed some tournament admins since they ended up being short-staffed. They asked if I wanted to help, so I said yes. I realized I enjoyed it, so I put out a random tweet asking if anyone knew of any roles open to tournament operations. A couple of weeks later, Aloe/Ali asked if I still wanted to work as an admin, and I worked a Calling All Heroes event for Overwatch. The rest is history, as they say.
So don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. Also, ask people you know in the industry if they or anyone else have an open role. A lot of people in esports love helping others out. My messages are always open to give advice or help you land a gig if I can.
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Thank you, Heartout, for this interview, but also for the work and passion you put into the esports community! We can’t wait to see more.