Riot Games has announced VCT 2027, a big rebuild of the VALORANT Champions Tour. The current league-heavy setup will be replaced by a tournament-first design. It uses open qualifiers, regional LAN events and more direct roads to Masters and Champions. Starting in 2027, any team can begin the climb to the biggest events through open qualifiers. VALORANT Esports Global Head Leo Faria sums it up in the announcement video: "Everything is a tournament."
To see why this matters, the article looks back at the old dream of lower-tier teams: Ascension. In 2023, 2024 and 2025, teams outside the top leagues had one goal, which was to reach VCT Americas, VCT CN, VCT EMEA or VCT Pacific. They had to get through their regional circuit, qualify through Challengers and then win Ascension. That was the main yearly way into the top level, and only from there could a team work toward Masters and Champions.
Ascension was dramatic, but it was harsh. You either made it or you did not, and there was only one promotion window each year. A team could be strong for most of the year, slip once near the end, and lose the whole year's reward. The article says this makes great stories but wastes too many good teams. It points to Rare Atom, who finished runner-up in Ascension CN three times and still stayed outside the top tier.
The article calls 2026 a bridge year. The season still runs on Kickoff, Stage 1, Stage 2 and the global events. But Riot added a Path to Champions for Challenger teams, which lets four Challenger teams in each region enter the Stage 2 playoff route and try to reach Champions. The writer sees this as a step away from the idea of being promoted into Tier 1, and toward teams making repeated runs at the biggest tournaments.
The 2027 plan rests on three principles, and the first is that the path to global events should be open. The road to every Masters and Champions event will start with open qualifiers for teams around the world. Riot says these could include community tournaments, partner events, collegiate events, Premier and more. They will feed into VCT Cups, which are LAN events that replace regular season league play. Each Cup ends with a finals weekend for fans and sends teams straight to the year's biggest events. There will be two Cups per territory per year, eight in total.
Region still counts. Open qualifiers widen access, but they lead into territory-based paths, so teams will probably need to pick a home region and commit to it. Kickoff stays too, and it will also be open to any team, with its qualifiers held in the fourth quarter of the previous year, after Champions. The season flows like this: Kickoff open qualifiers, Kickoff, Masters 1, open qualifiers, Cup 1, Masters 2, open qualifiers, Cup 2, Champions.
The writer says Riot is mixing two eras. One is the open spirit of early VALORANT in 2021 and 2022, when teams fought their way up through tournaments. The other is the partnership era from 2023 to 2026, which gave selected organizations money, structure and long-term support. Riot even says that in extraordinary cases, top teams that are not partners could earn more than weaker partner teams. Tier two has long been criticized for lacking support, and Riot's answer seems to be to merge everything into a single tier, so the gap between teams comes from skill and not from limited partner slots.
Pujan "FNS" Mehta, the Masters Reykjavík 2022 champion, reacted on Twitter: "Open Qualifiers are the only reason I was able to make a team and make our way up to what you know as Envy/Optic."
Partnership is not going away. A new two-year partnership cycle starts in 2027. Teams will be judged on community growth, fandom and content resonance, business sustainability, operational excellence and growth in competitive performance. Partner teams will keep meaningful benefits, and some people will dislike that. The writer argues that a fully open circuit sounds romantic, but a global esport needs stable, trusted organizations that can carry the business side. The problem in the first partnership cycle was that those teams sat too permanently at the center, and VCT 2027 seems to loosen that gate.
Riot also promises more money and support deeper in the system. Tournaments in 2027 will have total yearly prize pools of over $6 million. Cup teams will get faster access to funds so they can handle visas and travel. A portion of the money is set aside for Game Changers. There will be over 20 tournaments a year in more than 16 cities. Cups will use a mix of Riot studios and custom venues.
The article notes that recent seasons already moved toward live events outside the international tournaments. China toured seven cities this year, and other leagues held their season finals in different cities and countries. VCT 2027 makes this travelling style a core part of the calendar. The writer asks whether it could bring more visa and logistics trouble, especially for players and teams from countries with weaker passports. Even big organizations like Sentinels still face such problems.
In the end, the writer calls VCT 2027 Riot's most ambitious answer yet to the old access problem. It does not tear down the hierarchy, but it makes the dream feel alive again. The writer adds that real openness depends on numbers we do not yet have: how many partner teams stay, and how many Cup spots are open to everyone.
Text and photos: valo2asia.com · 09.04 — original →
Riot Games has announced VCT 2027, a big rebuild of the VALORANT Champions Tour. The news came out of Los Angeles. The current setup leans heavily on leagues. The new one is built around tournaments, open qualifiers, regional events played in person, and more direct roads to Masters and Champions. Leo Faria, VALORANT Esports Global Head, said in the announcement video: "Everything is a tournament."
The page first looks back at the old dream for teams outside the top leagues in 2023, 2024 and 2025. They wanted to reach VCT Americas, VCT CN, VCT EMEA or VCT Pacific. To get there, a team had to get through its regional circuit, qualify through Challengers, and then win Ascension. Ascension was the one yearly promotion path. You either made it or you didn't, and a miss meant starting the climb again. A team could be strong for most of the year, slip once near the end, and lose the whole year's reward. The page says this made good stories but burned through too many good teams. As an example, Rare Atom finished runner-up in Ascension CN three times and still stayed outside the top tier.
The page calls 2026 a bridge year. The season still has Kickoff, Stage 1, Stage 2 and the global events. But Riot added a Path to Champions for Challenger teams. Four Challenger teams in each region can enter the Stage 2 playoff route and try to reach Champions. The article sees this as a move away from promotion into Tier 1 and toward repeated direct runs at the biggest events.
In 2027, every road to Masters and Champions starts with open qualifiers. They will be open to teams around the world. Routes may include community tournaments, partner events, collegiate events, Premier and more. These qualifiers feed into new events called VCT Cups. Riot says Cups are played in person, replace regular season league play, end with a finals weekend for fans, and send teams straight to the biggest events. There will be two Cups per territory each year, eight in total.
Region still matters, though. Teams will probably need to pick a home region and commit to it. Kickoff stays too, and it will also be open to any team, with qualifiers in the fourth quarter of the year before, after Champions. The season runs like this: Kickoff open qualifiers, Kickoff, Masters 1, open qualifiers, Cup 1, Masters 2, open qualifiers, Cup 2, and Champions.
The article says this mixes two eras. One is the open spirit of early VALORANT in 2021 and 2022. The other is the partnership era of 2023 to 2026, which brought money, structure and long-term support for chosen organizations. Riot even says that in rare cases, top teams that are not partners could earn more than weaker partner teams. The writer reads this as Riot ending the split between tiers and merging everything into one, so the gap between teams comes from how well they play, not from a limited number of partner slots. Pujan "FNS" Mehta, the Masters Reykjavík 2022 champion, wrote on Twitter: "Open Qualifiers are the only reason I was able to make a team and make our way up to what you know as Envy/Optic."
Partnership is not going away. A new two-year partnership cycle starts in 2027. Teams will be judged on community growth, fandom and content appeal, business health, how well they run things, and how their competitive results develop. Partner teams will still get real benefits. The page admits some people will dislike this. Its view is that a fully open circuit sounds romantic, but a global esport needs stability, dependable organizations, trust in how they operate, and teams that can carry the business side. The first partnership cycle's problem was that partners sat too firmly at the center, and the page says 2027 loosens that grip.
More money is promised deeper in the system. Yearly prize pools will total over $6 million. Cup teams will get faster access to funds so they can pay for visas and travel. Part of the money is set aside for Game Changers. Riot says there will be over 20 tournaments a year in more than 16 cities worldwide. Cups will use a mix of Riot studios and custom venues. China already toured seven cities this year, and other leagues held finals in different places, but 2027 makes touring a core part of the calendar.
The page raises one worry: more cities and countries could mean more visa and travel trouble. These problems have long hit players and teams from countries with weaker passports, and they still come up now, even for big organizations like Sentinels.
In the end, the page calls VCT 2027 Riot's most ambitious answer so far to the access problem. It does not flatten the hierarchy, but it makes the dream feel alive again. How open it really is depends on numbers not yet known: how many partner teams stay, and how many Cup spots can be won.
Text and photos: valo2asia.com · 09.04 — original →
Riot Games has announced VCT 2027, a big rebuild of the VALORANT Champions Tour. The old setup, which leaned heavily on leagues, will give way to a system built around tournaments. It will have open qualifiers, regional LAN events and more direct routes to Masters and Champions. VALORANT Esports Global Head Leo Faria sums it up in the announcement video: "Everything is a tournament."
To see why this matters, the article looks back at Ascension. In 2023, 2024 and 2025, teams outside the top leagues had one main goal: reach VCT Americas, VCT CN, VCT EMEA or VCT Pacific. They had to get through their regional circuit, win through Challengers and then win Ascension. Only after that could they aim for Masters and Champions.
Ascension gave smaller teams hope, but it was harsh. There was only one chance a year. A team could be strong for most of the season, slip once near the end, and lose the whole year's reward. The article points to Rare Atom, who finished runner-up in Ascension CN three times and still stayed outside the top tier.
2026 was a bridge year. The season still had Kickoff, Stage 1, Stage 2 and the global events. But Riot added a Path to Champions, which lets four Challenger teams per region enter the Stage 2 playoff path and try to reach Champions. The article sees this as a move away from promotion into Tier 1 and toward repeated direct runs at the biggest events.
In 2027, the road to every Masters and Champions event starts with open qualifiers. Teams from anywhere can enter. The routes may include community tournaments, partner events, collegiate events, Premier and more. These qualifiers feed into new events called Cups. Riot says Cups are played on LAN, replace regular season league play, end with a finals weekend for fans, and send teams straight to the biggest events. There will be two Cups per territory each year, eight in total.
Region still counts. The qualifiers are open, but they lead into territory-based paths, so teams will probably have to pick a home region and stick with it. Kickoff stays too, and it will also be open to any team. Its qualifiers will be held in the fourth quarter of the year before, after Champions.
The season order is: Kickoff open qualifiers, Kickoff, Masters 1, open qualifiers, Cup 1, Masters 2, open qualifiers, Cup 2, and Champions.
The article says this mixes two eras. One is the open spirit of early VALORANT in 2021 and 2022, when teams fought their way up through tournaments. The other is the partnership era from 2023 to 2026, which brought money, structure and long-term support to chosen organizations. Riot even says that in rare cases, top teams that are not partners could earn more than weaker partner teams. Tier two has long been criticized for lacking support, and Riot's answer looks like merging everything into a single tier. Masters Reykjavík 2022 champion Pujan "FNS" Mehta wrote on Twitter: "Open Qualifiers are the only reason I was able to make a team and make our way up to what you know as Envy/Optic." (Open qualifiers are the only reason he could build a team and climb to what people know as Envy and Optic.)
Partnership is not going away. A new two-year partnership cycle starts in 2027. Teams will be judged on community growth, fandom and content appeal, business sustainability, operational excellence and growth in competitive performance. Partner teams will keep real benefits. Some people will dislike that, but the article says stability and trustworthy organizations matter for a global esport. The problem in the first cycle was that partners sat too permanently at the center, and the new design loosens that.
Riot also promises more money and support further down the system. Yearly prize pools will be over $6 million. Cup teams will get faster access to funds so they can handle visas and travel. Part of the money will go to Game Changers.
There will be over 20 tournaments a year in more than 16 cities worldwide. Cups will use a mix of Riot studios and custom venues. This builds on recent seasons, when China toured seven cities this year and other leagues held their finals in different cities and countries. The article warns that more travel could mean more visa and logistics trouble, especially for players and teams from countries with weaker passports. Even big organizations like Sentinels still face this.
The writer calls VCT 2027 Riot's boldest answer yet to the problem of access. It does not flatten the hierarchy, but it makes the dream feel alive again. Still, how open it really is depends on numbers nobody has yet: how many partner teams stay in the picture, how many Cup spots are open, and other small details.
Text and photos: valo2asia.com · 09.04 — original →
Riot Games has announced VCT 2027, a big rebuild of the VALORANT Champions Tour. The current setup leans heavily on leagues. The new one puts tournaments first, with open qualifiers, regional LAN events and shorter routes to Masters and Champions. VALORANT Esports Global Head Leo Faria sums it up in the announcement video: "Everything is a tournament."
To see why this matters, the page looks back at Ascension. In 2023, 2024 and 2025, teams outside the top leagues had one goal: reach VCT Americas, VCT CN, VCT EMEA or VCT Pacific. They had to get through their regional circuit, win Challengers, and then win Ascension. Only then could they chase a place at Masters and Champions.
Ascension was dramatic, but it was harsh. There was one chance a year. A team could play well for months, slip once near the end, and lose the whole year. The page points to Rare Atom, who finished runner-up in Ascension CN three times and still stayed outside the top tier.
The page calls 2026 a bridge year. The season still has Kickoff, Stage 1, Stage 2 and the global events. But Riot added a Path to Champions, which lets four Challenger teams in each region enter the Stage 2 playoff route toward Champions. The idea is to move away from promotion into Tier 1 and toward repeated direct runs at the biggest events.
In 2027, the road to every Masters and Champions event starts with open qualifiers for teams around the world. These may include community tournaments, partner events, collegiate events, Premier and more. The qualifiers feed into VCT Cups. Cups are LAN events that replace regular season league play. Each ends with a finals weekend for fans and sends teams straight to the biggest events. There will be two Cups per territory each year, eight in all.
Region still counts. Teams will probably need to pick a home region and stick with it. Kickoff stays too, but it will also be open to any team. Its qualifiers will be held in the last quarter of the year before, after Champions. The season runs in this order: Kickoff open qualifiers, Kickoff, Masters 1, open qualifiers, Cup 1, Masters 2, open qualifiers, Cup 2, Champions.
The page sees this as mixing two eras: the open circuit of early VALORANT in 2021 and 2022, and the partnership era of 2023 to 2026, which gave money and stability to chosen organizations. Riot even says that in extraordinary cases, top teams that are not partners could earn more than weaker partner teams. Tier two has long been criticized for weak support, and Riot seems to answer by merging everything into one tier. Masters Reykjavík 2022 champion Pujan "FNS" Mehta wrote on Twitter: "Open Qualifiers are the only reason I was able to make a team and make our way up to what you know as Envy/Optic."
Partnership stays. A new two-year partnership cycle starts in 2027. Teams will be judged on community growth, fandom and content resonance, business sustainability, operational excellence and competitive performance development. Partner teams keep real benefits. Some people will dislike that. The page argues that a fully open circuit sounds romantic, but a global esport needs reliable organizations that can carry the commercial side. The old problem was that partners sat too permanently at the center, and the page thinks loosening the gate answers that.
There is more money too. Total yearly prize pools will be over $6 million. Cup teams will get faster access to funds so they can cover visas and logistics. Part of the money will go to Game Changers.
There will be over 20 tournaments a year in more than 16 cities worldwide. Cups will use a mix of Riot studios and custom venues. This builds on recent seasons, when China toured seven cities this year and other leagues held season finals in different cities and countries. In 2027 the roadshow style becomes a core part of the calendar.
The page raises a worry here. Visiting more cities and countries could mean more visa and logistics trouble. These problems have long hit international esports, especially players and teams from countries with weaker passports. They still appear today, including for big organizations like Sentinels.
The page ends by calling VCT 2027 Riot's most ambitious answer yet to the access problem. It does not erase the hierarchy, but it makes the dream feel alive again. How open it really is depends on numbers not yet known, such as how many partner teams stay and how many Cup spots are open.
Text and photos: valo2asia.com · 09.04 — original →
