VALORANT's 2023 Esports Ecosystem Explained

A few hours ago, VALORANT Champions Tour shared from its own official Twitter account what it's planning for VALORANT esports organization in 2023 and beyond, for players and fans alike. Let's take a look at these details together.

Because of the new partnered league, there's a completely revamped road to pro for teams that won't receive partnership status in 2023. Next year, players looking to reach the top level of competitive VALORANT will need to climb quite a bit. Fortunately, those looking to make the attempt will have a solid path to get there in 2023. The VALORANT Champions Tour continues in 2023 with regional Challengers events, the tournament for up-and-coming talent eager to play on the international stage.

In 2023, players from more regions will be able to start playing in Challengers, which will continue to be the starting point on the road to pro for competitive VALORANT. The game, which is set to launch in 2023, will feature bigger events, new tournaments, and a more structured competitive ecosystem.

New and Expanded Challengers Leagues

Challengers, currently VCT's entry point in 2022, will continue to be the entry point to global events for organized teams going forward. Challengers leagues will start with an open qualifier as before, and will place the best teams into two segments of a multi-week regular season.

Each Challengers division will have a playoff tournament where a team will be crowned the winner. The largest Challengers leagues will have dedicated broadcast windows that won't conflict with the international league's matches.

Twenty-one Challengers leagues will take place worldwide: four in the Americas, seven in EMEA, and 10 in APAC. The leagues are listed below:

Americas

• NA
• LATAM North
• Brazil
• LATAM South

EMEA

• North Europe
• South Europe (Spain, Italy and Portugal)
• France and Benelux
• DACH (Germany, Austria and Switzerland)
• Türkiye
• Eastern Europe
• MENA

Pacific

• South Asia (Including India)
• Thailand
• Vietnam
• Malaysia and Singapore
• Korea
• Japan
• Chinese Taipei and Hong Kong
• Philippines
• Indonesia
• Oceania

A New League – Challengers Ascension

A new stage of competition is called Challengers Ascension. There are three Ascension leagues: EMEA, Americas, and Pacific. This tournament is the pinnacle of the Challengers leagues, and it will conclude with the best teams from each Challengers league moving into the Ascension league, where they'll compete to be crowned the best team in their region.

One team from each of the three regions will compete to earn a spot in next year's international league. This means the winners of the 2023 Challengers Ascension tournament in their regions will be promoted to the international league for 2024.

In 2023, 10 teams per international league will compete in global events, while the Challengers and Ascension leagues will fight for a single spot on the 2024 international team roster. Each region will allow one additional team to join the international league, meaning there will be 11 teams per international league in 2024.

Challengers Promotion

The 10 partnered teams in each region won't be relegated from the international league, and instead the leagues will only grow according to Riot's five-year plan. Since the promotion timeline takes league expansion fairly slowly, this won't mean much for teams competing in 2023.

Teams that take part in the Challengers and Ascension tournaments won't be competing in the international league in 2023. They'll be fighting for a spot in 2024. Teams that win that spot will earn two years in the international league before having to return to Challengers, once that second year has ended.

While this means there won't be any additional teams in VCT's 2023 season, it also means the stakes are high for the first teams trying their luck on the new road to VALORANT pro. There's only one new spot per region for the 2024 season, meaning teams will have to win a large number of matches before earning victory and a place in the international league.

The 2023 International League Will Have 10 Rosters Each

For the 2023 international season, there will be 10 teams from each of the three regions competing to be the best roster in the world. These leagues will resemble the Masters and Champions events fans are used to, but instead of the open qualifiers that lead into those events, there will simply be 10 partnered teams.

While sources have told Dot Esports that Riot has finished its final talks and received more than 150 bids from teams wanting a spot in the league's opening season, the teams that will compete in the 2023 international season haven't been announced yet.

According to sources, the international league will start in mid-February 2023 and wrap up in September. Teams will also receive a form of salary for being a partnered team, though the dollar amount will depend on a range of content output.

Unfortunately, that's all we know for now. We'll keep you updated with the latest information as it comes in.

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