Global Esports shuts its Valorant roster and becomes an AI studio

In September, Global Esports won their first Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) trophy, Pacific Stage 2, coming back from two maps down to beat Nongshim RedForce 3-2 in Busan. On October 19, 2026, Dr Rushindra Sinha, co-founder and chief executive, shut that competitive roster. The only Indian partner in the league is becoming GE Studios, an AI studio, and the players are free agents.

A Busan final, then a group-stage exit in Shanghai

Global Esports joined the Pacific league in 2023. This season they became the first Indian team to qualify for a Masters, reaching Masters London, and won Stage 2 against Nongshim RedForce, winners of Masters Santiago in March 2026.

At Champions in Shanghai, SportsAdda reported a 2-1 loss to Team Vitality on September 26, 2026, a 2-0 win over EDward Gaming, and a 2-0 loss to LOUD on October 4, 2026.

What Sinha told Riot in November 2025

"Last November, when the entire partnership structure was changing, when Riot reached out to us and asked us about our future, we told them that 2026 was more than likely going to be our last year in Esports," said Dr Rushindra Sinha, co-founder and chief executive at Global Esports. (VLR.gg)

Liquipedia records the organisation as a Pacific partner from Riot's announcement on September 21, 2022, on a four-year contract. The page dates Global Esports to August 2017, the Valorant team to October 4, 2020, and the disbanding to October 19, 2026. Earlier line-ups ran in Counter-Strike, Dota 2, Overwatch and PUBG Mobile.

SportsAdda reported a new two-year partnership cycle in 2027, with Pacific going from 10 partner teams to eight. No financial terms for that cycle have been published.

Five free agents leave with the Pacific title

The released players are Go "UdoTan" Kyung-won, Patrick "PatMen" Mendoza, Xavier "xavi8k" Juan, Savva "Kr1stal" Fedorov and Kale "autumn" Dunne. Head Coach Daniel "Platoon" Zhou, Assistant Coach Derren "Aimix" dela Cruz, Analyst Sam "Fields" Greenfield and Manager Vatsal Uniyal can sign elsewhere, with the rest of the staff. VLR.gg also lists Hose "taeri" Son.

"This roster has been very, very close to my heart, but to run an entire organization just to keep a roster together did not make sense, because even if one player left, the entire thing would crumble," said Dr Rushindra Sinha, co-founder and chief executive at Global Esports. (VLR.gg)

SportsAdda had no reported destination for any of them on October 19. Elsewhere in VCT, Team Liquid lets nAts explore offers for the 2027 VCT season.

Eight Pacific seats, and no Indian name yet

Nongshim RedForce are outside the 2027 partner programme too, though Evans Oh, the chief executive, says they will still field a team next year. KIWOOM DRX, DetonatioN FocusMe and BOOM Esports are also reported out. Rex Regum Qeon and ZETA DIVISION have announced they are in.

Riot had not published the full Pacific list, and none of the partners confirmed so far was Indian. TheSpike put the same cap at eight slots and said non-partner teams can still enter through open qualifiers. Jake Sin, head of Valorant esports for Asia-Pacific at Riot Games, thanked Sinha for four years in VCT Pacific.

Winning Busan and then releasing the champions is an unusual order of business. On Sinha's timeline, the trophy did not overturn a last-year warning he says he gave Riot in November 2025.

GE Studios keeps the company and drops the team

"This marks the official last day of Global Esports as a competitive roster," said Dr Rushindra Sinha, co-founder and chief executive at Global Esports. (VLR.gg)

VLR.gg reported that GE Studios is meant to amplify what the organisation did over the past 10 years, using artificial intelligence. TheSpike quoted him saying that "everything we've done in the last decade is now going to be powered and amplified with AI". The new name says the team is gone. It does not say what the company will sell.

• The Valorant roster is released: UdoTan, PatMen, xavi8k, Kr1stal and autumn are free agents, with Head Coach Platoon, Assistant Coach Aimix, Analyst Fields, Manager Vatsal Uniyal and staff including taeri.
• Global Esports will not field another roster. The organisation becomes GE Studios, an AI studio.
• The next Pacific partnership cycle is reported as two years from 2027, cutting the league from 10 partner teams to eight, with no financial terms published.
• Riot had not published the full 2027 list. No confirmed partner was Indian. Non-partner teams can still enter through open qualifiers.
• Nongshim RedForce, KIWOOM DRX, DetonatioN FocusMe and BOOM Esports are reported out. Rex Regum Qeon and ZETA DIVISION have said they are in. Evans Oh says Nongshim will still play.

Sinha described the cost of one roster and did not price it. How Moist Esports pays for a roster takes the same question to a different club.

This article is informational analysis only and is not betting advice.

18+Gambling carries financial risk and can be addictive. If you or someone you know needs help, visit GamCare (UK), call 1-800-GAMBLER (US), or see our Responsible Gambling page. 18+ / 21+ depending on jurisdiction.