VALORANT

At the heart of the VALORANT esports ecosystem lies a commitment to fostering top-tier competition and celebrating the diversity of talent worldwide. Our roster of recognized partner teams in the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) spans continents, bringing together the best teams from across the globe to compete on both regional and global stages. 

VALORANT Esports utilizes a vertically integrated structure, which creates opportunities for the best players to qualify for the biggest events directly from the game. Here’s the path to go from ranked to Champions:

• Any team can begin their journey in organized competitions within VALORANT’s Premier Mode.

• Teams who win their Premier Mode competitions can promote into their regional Challenger Leagues.

• Teams who win the Challenger Ascension tournaments will earn promotion into one of the four International Leagues. 

• The best teams from the four International Leagues can qualify for Global Tournaments like Masters and Champions.

Four global events occur yearly: Masters (x2), Champions, and Game Changers Championship. 

Champions 

Champions represents the pinnacle of the annual VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT), concluding the season with the most elite competition. With substantial prize pools and the world’s best VALORANT teams, Champions is one of the most anticipated events, uniting the entire community to witness the ultimate showdown of the season.

Throughout the year, top teams worldwide compete in their respective International Leagues, aiming to secure one of 16 coveted spots at Champions by finishing at the top of their league or accumulating the highest Championship Points.

In 2025, VALORANT Champions will take place in Europe, with Paris, France as the host city. Scheduled from September to October, this event aligns with the expanded VCT calendar, which now runs from January through October.

Masters

Masters tournaments are global events within the VCT ecosystem and a crucial milestone on the road to Champions, awarding Championship Points to help teams secure their place at the season’s ultimate event.

Each season includes two Masters tournaments hosted in different cities worldwide, with teams from the four International Leagues—VCT Americas, VCT CN, VCT EMEA, and VCT Pacific—qualifying an equal number of teams to compete.

The first Masters of 2025 kicks off in February with Masters Bangkok, marking the debut of a VALORANT Masters event in Southeast Asia and highlighting the region's increasing influence in esports. From there, the VCT heads to North America’s East Coast for Masters Toronto in June 2025. This will be Canada’s first time hosting a VALORANT Masters tournament, drawing top international teams and fans to one of North America’s premier esports hubs.

Game Changers Championship

The VALORANT Game Changers Championship is the culmination of the Game Changers Series. The tournament features the ten best teams in the world, representing their respective regions. These teams have earned their spots by winning major events and collecting the highest circuit points in their regions. The tournament is the ultimate showcase of the most talented women in VALORANT.

The International Leagues are the highest regional tier within the VALORANT esports ecosystem. Four leagues compete on LAN and in front of live audiences, with the weekly matches leading to opportunities to qualify for global events. 

Each league comprises ten teams incorporated through long-term partnerships, joined by two teams that ascend through the Challenger Leagues. This structure fosters long-term planning and deep investment within the ecosystem, creating a stable foundation for the growth of VALORANT esports.

Here’s a closer look at each International League: 

• VCT Americas: Based in Los Angeles, this league spans North America, Brazil, and Latin America. Teams compete over ten weeks of regular-season play, followed by playoffs, with one team ultimately crowned Americas Champion.
  

• VCT CN: Operating from Shanghai, VCT China represents the latest addition to the ecosystem, with Chinese teams quickly establishing a strong global presence since VALORANT’s official release in China in 2023.

• VCT EMEA: Featuring teams from across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, VCT EMEA is headquartered in Berlin. Teams vie for the title of EMEA Champion, representing over a dozen countries.
  

• VCT Pacific: A regional league uniting teams from Korea, Japan, Oceania, and Southeast Asia. The Pacific teams battle it out over two months in Seoul, South Korea, competing for the Pacific Title.

Each league champion earns not only regional glory but also a place on the global stage.

Challenger Leagues (CLs)

The Challenger Leagues (CLs) represent the tier just below the International Leagues, consisting of 16 leagues worldwide organized into three main territories. This competitive level provides a unique experience for players and fans, serving as a key developmental pathway for teams aspiring to compete at the highest levels of VALORANT esports.

Operating year-round, CLs work closely with International Leagues to cultivate emerging talent, offering players a structured and accessible environment and providing fans with localized competitions. Through Ascension Tournaments, CLs connect directly to the International Leagues, forming a key part of the VALORANT Path to Pro. Together with Premier, CLs help build one of the most robust amateur ecosystems in esports.

Our current Challenger Leagues include:

• Americas: Brazil, LATAM North, LATAM South, and North America
  

• EMEA: Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, France, Spain, DACH (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), Türkiye, and MENA (Middle East and North Africa).
  

• Pacific: Japan, Korea, Oceania, South Asia (including India), and Southeast Asia.

New in 2025, Partner teams will be able to field Academy teams in Challengers. While Academy teams won’t be eligible for Ascension, this addition will further support talent development within the VCT.

As VALORANT Esports continues to evolve, we remain dedicated to building an aspirational, accessible, and sustainable Path to Pro.

Ascension: Performance-Based Promotion and Relegation  

To enhance mobility and opportunity within the Tier 2 competitive scene, Ascension Tournaments promote top-performing Challenger teams into their respective International Leagues.

Starting in 2025, Ascension will implement performance-based extensions within the International Leagues, eliminating automatic relegation. Each International League will now cap at 12 teams, with Ascension winners evaluated based on their league performance as follows:

• Extend: Ascension teams that reach VCT Champions (top 4 in the International League) will extend their term for another year. If both Ascension teams qualify, the higher-performing team will stay, while the other must compete in Ascension to reclaim their spot.
  

• Fight: Teams finishing in the top 8 earn the chance to defend their place in the International League. They’ll compete in Ascension against Challenger teams vying for promotion.
  

• Relegate: Teams that fail to make it to Stage 2 Playoffs (bottom 4) will be relegated back to their Challenger League. If both Ascension teams are relegated, two new teams will be promoted to maintain balance.

This performance-based promotion and relegation model ensures that at least one team is promoted each year, with Ascension teams receiving a 1-year term in the International League upon promotion.

VCT Game Changers is our commitment to building a more inclusive VALORANT Champions Tour, providing new opportunities and visibility for women in VALORANT esports. Designed to showcase the talent of women players, Game Changers features regional competitions that culminate in a global championship, highlighting the highest level of competition among VALORANT’s women athletes.

The Game Changers season encourages organizations to support regional teams and talent development through open qualifiers. After a full year of regional competition, the top teams face off on the global stage at the Game Changers Championship to claim the title of World Champion.

Game Changers spans four regions, each with a tailored format to align with regional goals:

• Game Changers Americas: Encompassing teams from North America, Brazil, and Latin America.

• Game Changers CN: Featuring teams across China.

• Game Changers EMEA: Representing countries throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

• Game Changers Pacific: Including teams from Korea, Japan, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

After a year of intense competition across multiple qualifiers worldwide, the season concludes with the Game Changers Championship, the pinnacle of the GC Circuit.

Premier, introduced in 2023 and continuously evolving, has become the cornerstone of VALORANT’s path-to-pro. By 2024, Premier enabled the promotion of over 40 teams into Challengers, establishing a clear entry point for aspiring professionals. This in-game system provides a structured pathway within the competitive ecosystem, empowering the next generation of superstars. Through Premier, players can form teams, join divisions, and compete in a season filled with weekly matches and tournaments.

The newly launched Invite Division in Episode 9, Act 1, represents the peak of in-game competition, offering teams a direct pathway to Challengers. Teams that excel in the Invite Division can secure Challenger League spots, with promotions occurring every two Acts due to Premier’s more frequent seasonal schedule compared to Challengers.

For details on divisions, seeding, format, and more, check out Everything You Need to Know About Premier.

In 2025, we’re expanding the VCT season to run from January through October, creating a closer alignment between the game and the sport. This new schedule shortens the offseason and gives teams more time to rest and prepare between competitions.

To maintain high stakes throughout the year, every competition will now award Championship Points, boosting teams' chances of securing a place at Champions.

The season kicks off in January with a Kickoff Tournament, featuring a fresh format where twelve teams will compete in a double-elimination bracket. The top two teams will advance directly to Masters Bangkok. Following the Kickoff, Stage 1 will run from March through May, qualifying the top three teams from each league for Masters Toronto.

In Stage 2, points will reset, setting up a new competitive landscape as teams vie for spots in the expanded Playoffs, now featuring eight teams. This expansion keeps more teams in contention for longer, increasing opportunities to qualify for global events.

To conclude the 2025 season, the top teams from Stage 2 Playoffs, along with those accumulating the most Championship Points, will qualify for Champions Paris—where the best VALORANT team in the world will be crowned!