Riot Games, the creators of competitive tactical FPS game VALORANT, has announced a set of updates to the VCT EMEA Challengers format and the overall aims of its ecosystem.
Changes will be made to the format of its tier-two tournaments, with new regions added to Challengers Spain and tweaks that align with recent changes made to the VCT Game Changers.
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The most notable change for the VCT EMEA Challengers leagues comes in the form of a new competitive structure. The 2025 season will consist of three stages, with each stage split into two parts. According to a release, each stage will see teams compete in a regular league layout with the top two teams from each stage advancing to a new tournament called Challengers EMEA at the end of each stage.
In addition, the Challengers teams will now be awarded points that will count towards promotion to the VCT EMEA league. Riot Games shared that teams will gain points based on their performance throughout the season and that more details about how exactly this will work will be shared later in the year.
Italy and Portugal will also join Challengers Spain: Rising in 2025, resulting in Challengers Spain having eight teams. These slots will be distributed as follows: four to the top four teams of Challenger Spain: Rising, the top team from Challengers Italy: Rinascimento and Challengers Portugal: Tempest, one Wildcard team and the winner of a qualifying tournament.
Lastly, EMEA Game Changers teams will have a new way to get to the VCT through Challengers. This will be made possible through the Express Lane mechanic, allowing Game Changers teams to compete in Challengers Open Qualifiers without having to miss overlapping Game Changers events.
