Where Did All The VALORANT Hype Go?

Taking the best elements from CS:GO and mixing in different abilities that many are familiar with from titles like R6 and Overwatch, Riot Games looked to disrupt the FPS genre with the launch of VALORANT.

After an incredibly popular beta period in part thanks to mass promotion through Twitch influencers and scarcity tactics, VALORANT was poised to be the next big esport.

However, in the days following the launch viewership numbers began to drop. Additionally, a series of issues stemming from launching the game in a "bare-bones" state, bugs, and a controversial ant-cheat are just a few of the issues that have been brought up as the player base experiences its post-launch deflation.

You don't need to look far to find a myriad of videos and posts critiquing VALORANT which leads one to wonder what happened to all the hype?