VALORANT game developer Riot Games has unveiled several notable changes and announcements for the VALORANT Champions Tour in 2025.
Among the changes are a shorter off-season, changes to the Season Kickoff event, new format changes to Challengers, and more. The series’ VCT Masters events will also take place in Bangkok and Toronto, with VALORANT Champions heading to Paris, France.
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The changes were detailed in a YouTube video featuring Leo Faria, the Global Head of VALORANT Esports, and Anna Donlon, the VALORANT Studio Lead at Riot Games. The 2025 Challengers season will start in October 2024, as previously announced by Riot, and from next year, VCT partner teams will be able to have Academy teams in Challengers. On the latter point, it was announced that academy teams will not be able to qualify for its ascension promotion tournament.
The first Masters tournament of the year will be held in Bangkok, Thailand, with the second heading to Canada, more specifically Toronto. VALORANT Champions will conclude the VCT season in Paris, France. In addition, Riot Games has confirmed that the 2026 Champions will be held in China and the 2027 edition in the Americas.
Another big change concerns VCT’s format. Riot Games has expanded the calendar and shortened the off-season. This way, Champions will be held in October, allowing teams for more time to rest and prepare for matches. In addition, every competition in the season will award teams with Championship Points and Riot Games is “working on the system to better reward teams.”
The Kickoff tournaments will return for January, featuring a changed format. A double-elimination bracket will be played and the top two teams from each region will go to Masters.
VCT Stage 1 will seed three teams from each region to the Masters Toronto, and playoffs will be held after Stage 2 to provide teams for the Champions. Eight teams will enter the playoffs in 2025, instead of six teams in 2024.
Overall, the changes are aimed to provide more teams with a chance to compete in the top events of the season, but also to accommodate the new teams that will enter the leagues through the Ascension tournaments.
