Does streaming actually affect how well Valorant pros do in the VCT?
Work hard, stream hard.
Being an esports pro is hardly all fun and games. Between scrims and VOD reviews, players often have few hours left in the day to themselves, but many still find a way to juggle a grueling streaming schedule and their professional obligations.
However, the label“content creator”has sometimes been used as a backhanded jibe at players or teams who have large followings online but fail to find similar success on the tournament stage.
Former North American juggernautSentinelshave been a popular target for these criticisms. With players spending hundreds of hours streaming and their lackluster results — they did not pick up even a single win in theVCT NA Stage 2 Challengers group stage— fans are quick to call out the sheer number of hours on stream as the root of their issues.
There is a negative correlation between time spent streaming and maps won
One Valorant stats guru, who goes by the handlewillminderon Twitter, has attempted to determine if there is any negative correlation between the number of hours a team spends streaming as a whole, and how often they actually win in the VCT.
Willminder plotted the number of hours streamed over the past 30 days by each of the 12 teams in theVCT NA Stage 2 Challengers group stageagainst their map win percentage. The goal was to take the heat off individual players and instead put the focus on how the team as a whole is utilizing their time.
As it turns out, there is in fact a negative correlation between hours streamed and a team’s map win percentage, with fewer hours streamed going hand-in-hand with a higher win rate.
Redditor u/LovelyResearcherdug deeper into the numbers, looking at hours streamed over the past 90 days and the map win rates of each of the 12 teams. The map win rates also took into account both the group stage and theplayoffs.
The correlation coefficient, or r-value, of negative 0.3410 also suggests a slight negative correlation, although correlation does not necessarily imply causation.
Sentinelshad the most hours streamed, with nearly 914 hours over the last three months. Unfortunately, they also had the lowest map win percentage at just 9 percent. On the other hand,OpTic Gaminghad the highest win rate at 79 percent, but one of the fewest hours streamed at 120.
Shahzeb “ShahZaM” Khan was the most prolific streamer with 458 hours on the record, while FaZe Clan’sXavier “flyuh” Carlsonand NRG’s Ian “tex” Botsch brought up the other end with just 1.5 hours.
Of course, there are additional confounding factors as well, such as the fact that Sentinels had to play one match withoutTyson “TenZ” NgoandHunter “SicK” Mims, and their last two matches without SicK.
Not every team fits neatly into the pattern either. For instance,XSEThas been one of the most successful teams this season, alongside OpTic, but they have more than three times the hours streamed.
Having said that, the general correlation is still difficult to deny. “More stream hours means less practice time, protocols, and overall strategy,” said XSET’s Rory “dephh” Jackson onTwitter.
NRG’s James “hazed” Cobb agreed as well. “Kind of confirms what most people believe, including myself,”he saidabout the graph.
READ MORE:All teams qualified for VCT APAC Stage 2 Challengers playoffs
