Pride Month is a month-long celebration of the LGBTQ+ community, and many games find ways to take part. Riot is under fire once more after the Give Back V26 bundle in VALORANT leaked during Pride Month, pushing a straight couple rather than its queer agents at this questionable time.

Where is Nanobomb?

Esports titles are improving in LGBTQ+ representation, with many new characters identifying as queer, from gay to bi to non-binary. Overwatch and Apex Legends have a very impressive roster when it comes to representation, with Apex especially having great queer storylines and relationships.

I mean, Bloodhound and Fuse, hello!?! And these relationships don’t just exist. There are comics, short films, voice lines, and plenty of hinting and character development leading up to it. The relationships feel earned and complete, not just thrown in there to pander to the gaming community.

VALORANT has trailed behind with this kind of representation. Unlike Overwatch and Apex Legends, VALORANT will often not outright confirm any of its agents’ orientations or identities.

One confirmed couple is Killjoy and Raze. When Killjoy was added to the game, voice lines created a lot of speculation. Riot shared a romantic drawing of the two agents together in December 2022. This has made Killjoy and Raze the most-discussed relationship in VALORANT.

Despite all the love for Killjoy and Raze, affectionately called Nanobomb by fans, Riot hasn’t done much with the couple. You’d think Pride Month would be the perfect time to put in a bit of effort into their lore, but that hasn’t been the case either.

In the Give Back V26 bundle, we got in-game rewards featuring Viper and Chamber. This cis couple rubbed people the wrong way even when the relationship was first revealed, since Viper appeared to hate him in the game. Featuring them during Pride Month was an even bigger source of frustration.

Reactions to the leak include fun replies like: “These ugly cards are perfectly suited for a dogs*** ship that Riot couldn’t have put less effort into actually making sense if they tried. Well done.”

And: “Viper x Chamber might actually be THE worst ship of all time.”

Then: “Explain why you’re releasing cards for a straight ship no one asked for while completely ignoring the one canon lesbian couple you have during Pride Month. F**k you. Genuinely.”

Agreed.

Someone at Riot admitted back in 2022 that some regional markets censor LGBTQ+ content. And this is something Riot cares about. Clearly.

“The straightwashing of queer characters from games in countries with a poor record of LGBT+ rights is sad and proves that there is nothing more important than making the most money,” Twitch streamer Ben Austwick said at the time.

The continued laziness surrounding VALORANT’s one actual confirmed queer couple, while continuing to hype up an extremely toxic and forced straight relationship, is not something to be ignored.

During Pride Month, it almost feels intentional.

Over the weekend, I couldn’t stop laughing at one specific moment of the 2026 College VALORANT (CVAL) Championship, organized by the Riot Scholastic Association of America (RSAA). And it’s because it brought back that chaos we’ve been missing from esports broadcasts the past few years.

While discussing the MVP of the highly organized tournament, you could hear a diabolical Discord sound go off: “I’m over here stroking my d***…” At this point, American caster Scott “Infernosis” Hurley could be seen squeezing his eyes shut in an attempt to keep a straight face. Sierra “Zhobii” Frisbee didn’t appear to be affected.

VALORANT esports commended the two for holding it together across X (formerly Twitter), although a few pointed out that casters should have their Discord sound notifications muted or off before an online broadcast.

Let’s be real: You were not watching the CVAL Championships. We’re all guilty of not really supporting the Tier 2 and collegiate scenes enough. But you probably saw this clip.

Every time I’m on X, I see someone else quoting it with their own reaction, good or bad. It’s honestly the only reason I even knew this event was happening. And honestly, there is something to be said about that.

These funny, unplanned moments always grab the attention of the esports community. What can I say? We love the chaos, and we yearn for the days when broadcasts were unprofessional, confused, silly, and it felt like we were all part of some underground club that just did whatever it wanted, that only cared about the talent of the top players and nothing else.

When we see these mistakes happen, it feels real. It breaks away from the overmanufactured and sterile broadcasts that have taken over the esports scene and gives us something to latch onto. I bet you a lot of people decided to watch the Grand Finals after they saw this clip. It probably has more views than it would have if the mistake had never happened.

These moments shouldn’t be seen as shameful, but as magical. They are things you can’t fake. They can’t be planned. They only happen because of the gaming culture and memes that you find in esports. It’s a celebration of who we are.