Over the summer, I had the opportunity to attend Riot Games' first-ever VALORANT New York City event, the VALORANT VCT Americas Block Party.

What is Valorant? Valorant is a 5v5 character-based tactical shooter best known for its agents—characters equipped with adaptive, swift, and lethal abilities that, according to the Valorant website, 'create opportunities to let your gunplay shine'. For those unfamiliar with the esports world, VCT stands for VALORANT Champions Tour, a tour consisting of 16 of the world's best teams competing for a trophy and a substantial amount of money as the grand prize.

The VCT Block Party was the first East Coast event that Riot Games has hosted, and they chose New York City. This was an excellent choice because of its extensive transportation system, diverse population, cultural attractions, and notable skyline. According to Riot Games' principal publishing manager Dillon Buckner, the block party was their way of blending "together the digital and live watching experience". They managed to make the entire event free to attend as well as gave out a variety of free goodies.

Free food and drinks were provided with VALORANT-themed names, my personal favorites being "Jett's Swift Noodles" and "Reyna's Devour Bao". There were also free stickers, temporary tattoos, and in-game cosmetics in turn for event feedback, as well as a merch stand where they sold official t-shirts, plushies, and a few other VCT Americas exclusive items.

Riot Games was successful in its endeavor to reach as many people on the coast as possible. While walking around, I asked a few attendees where they were from and some of them commuted multiple hours, while others just hopped on the subway a few minutes before the event. The event was located on Pier 17, a popular concert venue with great views of the Brooklyn Bridge and NYC skyline for attendees to admire.

There were also two official meet-and-greet events, each headlining a major VALORANT creator with over 5 million followers: Tarik Celik & Timothy An (iiTzTimmy). In addition to the meet and greets, there were other notable VALORANT content creators in attendance, such as Josh Seki and MiaMouse.

I had the privilege of interviewing Dillon Buckner, the Principal Publishing Manager at Riot Games. Buckner has been working at Riot Games for 13 years and in his current role since January 2023.

I asked Buckner, from a marketing standpoint, what was it like bringing this event to life? He replied, "It's not all about the marketing impact, but rather, how do we blow people's minds and help them have an amazing time?" He went on to talk about what makes their event(s) successful: "The big secret is a wonderful team. We have a bunch of folks contributing from all over Riot and we have our incredible partners, shoutout to OSStudios, our main vendor." The event is not all mapped out, he mentions. "It's a lot of; 'what do we think is best?' It's art, it's guesswork, it's what our hunch tells us."

"We're trying to do new, innovative things. We want people to have the best time they've ever had at something like this." 
        - Dillon Buckner, Riot Games

Buckner went on to compare the at-home broadcasted watch party experience with the in-person live version, stating, "There are some risky elements [to live watch parties] in some way. What if something we did made the [attendee's] experience less enjoyable?" Buckner was concerned about how the event would go for not only the people in attendance, but also the ones watching it from home. "We're thinking about all these players at the same time and we have to balance and make tradeoffs."

When asked about how many people were currently at the event, Buckner shared that he was told there were "1,100 in the building…but that's just here! We've got people in LA sitting outside watching it as well as in the studio, Mexico City, and people in Sao Paulo."

VALORANT fans on the East Coast have been wondering when Riot Games was going to host an event for them. This raises the question: since the VCT Block Party is the first of its kind for VALORANT, is Riot Games planning on having more events?
Buckner was honest and shared the focus on the block party has been all-consuming. "I have no idea 'cause I'll worry about it tomorrow. We have been full force on this" He then went on to say that Riot Games is "incredibly passionate about VALORANT in the Americas, VCT Americas as like a unifying force for that community, and you know, the best is yet to come. It's always going to be getting bigger."

On a more career oriented note, I wondered what Buckner would say his proudest accomplishment at Riot in his 13 years was. Buckner proudly exclaimed he was most proud of the moments he got to directly help people. He is so enthusiastic about his everyday work at Riot Games that he mentioned, "If you were to ask me tomorrow, I would probably have a different answer." He went on to share two touching moments that happened at their live LA events that he was able to support and care for attendees during moments of need.

As an aspiring communications professional in the space where Buckner is now, I am genuinely curious as to what makes him get up every day and go to work. What are the memorable moments that make him excited when given the chance to share? Often, people are not asked questions on a personal level and I wanted to get to know him after asking about the event itself.

Overall, the event was a huge success with over a thousand attendees enjoying themselves. The one thing I would recommend, if Riot Games decides to continue hosting events in New York City, would be to plan out the seating arrangement a little better. During the event, there were many people complaining about not having a seat or not being able to see Tarik & friends on the stage commentating the game. People were having to watch them from a screen, which takes away from the experience of an in-person watch party.

I am looking forward to attending more events from Riot Games on the East Coast and seeing how they grow. The VCT Block Party was a huge step in the right direction, and I know any future events from Riot Games can only grow from here.