Co-streamers such as tarik have been a major boon for many competitive games on Twitch and elsewhere, but is it possible that some co-streamers are too big for the good of a game like Valorant?
That question has been posited regarding Tarik “tarik” Celik, an American content creator and former professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive player who has become one of the biggest names in Valorant. But he isn’t known in Valorant for pro play and accomplishments, but rather for hosting the game’s biggest streams. Often even bigger than those of Valorant developer and publisher Riot Games.
Is tarik still co-streaming Valorant on Twitch?
tarik is indeed still co-streaming Valorant on his Twitch channel, where he regularly broadcasts to nearly 3 million followers. Tens of thousands of viewers watch the biggest competitive Valorant events on tarik’s Twitch channel, forgoing other viewing options in favor of the former CSGO pro and his friends and co-casters.
This is especially notable because tarik’s broadcasts are frequently bigger and more-watched than are Riot Games’ official Valorant broadcasts. That might not seem like a big deal, considering that fans are still watching Valorant no matter which channel they choose. But there are a few reasons why this could become problematic for Riot.
Riot sells advertisements on its competitive game broadcasts, whether it’s broadcasting Valorant or another game like the popular MOBA League of Legends. Riot’s broadcasters are there to remind each viewer who the sponsors are for each segment, and to keep the broadcast moving in the direction that Riot chooses.
When co-streamers take over, much of Riot’s control is lost. tarik isn’t nearly as likely to remember to refer to each sponsored segment by the right name, and he and his friends may say things that Riot would coach its own paid broadcasters not to say.
Riot has actually put restrictions on the co-broadcasting of League of Legends for these and similar reasons. But it hasn’t yet made such a move in Valorant, likely because it may not be able to afford to. tarik’s stream is so big, and his audience is so important to the viewership of competitive Valorant, that to stop him would be to cut out a huge number of viewers. If anything, Riot may owe tarik for his help in promoting the company’s game.
Who is tarik?
tarik is a Turkish-American former CSGO pro. He entered the public eye as a competitive CSGO player. He debuted at the game’s professional level with the Netcodeguides.com team, a North American side that achieved some strong results but was never able to break through to the game’s top tier.
He followed that some roster to Counter Logic Gaming, where he achieved some additional success but still searched for a true breakthrough. That breakthrough would come when tarik joined Optic Gaming prior to Optic winning ELEAGUE Season 2 over an impressive field of world-class opponents including runner-up Astralis.
But tarik’s biggest moments were still yet to come. After leaving Optic Gaming, tarik joined up with American team Cloud9. That Cloud9 squad achieved the biggest result in North American CSGO when it won the ELEAGUE Boston Major in 2018, defeating FaZe Clan in one of the most memorable finals in the long history of competitive Counter-Strike.
tarik saw additional success after leaving Cloud9 while playing with both mibr and Evil Geniuses, but he chose to retire as a competitive player following his stint with EG.
Does tarik play Valorant?
tarik does play Valorant, but he is not a professional Valorant player. tarik was one of many CSGO players who transitioned to Valorant after the game’s big debut, but tarik has not pursued a professional career in Valorant as he once did in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. Instead, the former major CSGO champion has been active as a content creator, and he has found great success in this regard.
tarik does play Valorant on stream, but his play is more casual now than it once was. Fans still flock to see him perform as he continues to play at a high level and is often joined by similarly skilled teammates.
His co-streams of Valorant esports have taken off and made his channel one of the biggest in all of Valorant broadcasting.
