Riot Games Announces VCT 2027 Model: A New Future for VALORANT Esports Tournaments

Riot Games recently shared the first details of the innovations coming to the esports game VALORANT in 2027.

VCT 2027: It's All a Tournament

In 2027, the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) system will transition to a tournament model to deliver more dramatic and unexpected moments throughout the season, bring new events closer to fans, and provide a new way for any team to qualify for VCT's global events, including Masters and Champions. This new structure will focus on the following principles:

• Every match will be important.
• The path to global esports events is becoming wider.
• Live competition events are being held in more locations.

When designing the original VCT tournament model, Riot Games made several choices regarding structure, regions, teams, accessibility, and economics, which helped Riot create one of the most successful esports titles in the world. Now, building on that success, Riot wants to develop its vision and create a bold new future for VCT, making this team sport even more exciting, full of surprises, and more accessible to VALORANT teams and players worldwide.

Partnership Program 2027

A new two-year partnership cycle will begin in the 2027 season, with applications for potential teams opening on April 8th. Teams with established reputations that haven't yet joined the Partner Program and wish to be considered can contact their respective Riot Esports regional team. Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Commitment to community development in VALORANT
• Community engagement through fan base and content.
• Sustainability in business and responsible operations.
• Operational excellence and robust infrastructure.
• Success in competition and improvement in performance.

Partner teams continue to play a vital role in ensuring the success of the VCT tournament, and they will be rewarded by Riot Games with:

• Basic Payment for Partners - Partner teams receive a guaranteed basic payment annually.
• Performance Rewards - Partner teams that achieve outstanding results in meeting collaborative goals will be eligible for additional rewards.
• Team Collection - In-game skins that allow fans to show support for their favorite team.
• Direct Seeding - Partner teams gain more stability and exposure by being directly placed into the later stages of the qualifiers.

From Open Qualifiers to Global Events

Starting in 2027, the path to all international Masters and Champions tournaments will begin with Open Qualifiers for any team worldwide. In previous seasons, non-Partner teams had to compete throughout the season to determine a single team to be promoted via VCT Ascension. Starting next year, teams will have more opportunities and more time throughout the year to reach the biggest stages of VCT.

The qualification path will vary by region and may include community tournaments, partner events, student events, Premiers, and more. Details will be shared later this year.

Teams that aren't the top Partner teams can still accumulate Championship Points along with prize money throughout the season, and in exceptional cases, they may even earn more than the bottom-ranked Partner teams. This approach allows Riot to allocate resources more deeply into the ecosystem over shorter cycles, enabling both Partner and non-Partner teams to support players and invest in esports. Teams can compete multiple times in global events each season and make necessary adjustments flexibly along the way.

Riot Games has achieved incredible success with VALORANT's esports digital products thanks to the enthusiastic support of fans for their favorite teams and players. Last year alone, Riot shared over $86 million from digital products with VCT teams, creating a stable and sustainable environment for them to operate. Starting in 2027, Riot wants all teams competing at the highest level to have a roadmap toward professional and financial success.

Each tournament comes with a prize pool for teams that qualify. This amount increases with the size and importance of the tournament, nearly doubling from the Cup to the Masters, and then doubling again from the Masters to the Champions.

In addition to incentive rewards, VALORANT esports tournaments also offer substantial prize pools totaling over $6 million annually, as well as fully sponsored travel expenses for global-scale events.

Specifically for Cup-based tournaments, funding will be provided to teams in a timely manner so they can prepare the necessary logistics for participating in the tournament, such as visas and travel. Finally, a portion of the funding will be allocated to the Game Changers tournament each year. More details on how the funds will be allocated will be announced this year.

Although the details are still being finalized, Riot's goal is to ensure every team in every region has a path to participate in all global events. Regional communities will have their own pathways to send their representatives to international and global tournaments, where these teams will face Partner teams in later rounds.

Riot Games hopes that this change will bring more excitement and the best teams back to their home regions, thereby helping to develop the esports industry and train new talents, which is crucial for the survival of the sport.

Combining regional, international, and global tournaments will help VALORANT achieve a reasonable balance between competitiveness and representation at all stages of the VCT.

Introducing VCT Cup: More Events in More Cities

The Open Qualifiers will lead to new tournaments, called the VCT Cup: there will be 2 tournaments in each region each year, for a total of 8 tournaments. These are exciting onLAN competitive events that determine the top VALORANT teams in each region. Each VCT Cup tournament will:

• Replacing the regular season's competition phase.
• It concludes with a Final Week event.
• Directly determine the teams that qualify for international VALORANT tournaments including Masters and Champions.

Kickoff and Cup tournaments will be held on LAN at Riot Arenas as well as specially designed venues, with each Cup tournament culminating in a fan-focused Finals Week. In total, the VCT 2027 model will host over 20 tournaments annually and visit more than 16 different cities worldwide.

Kickoff will remain a specially designed tournament with a unique format to kick off the season. This tournament will also be open to any team, with qualifying rounds taking place in the fourth quarter of the previous year, following the Champions League.

Towards the Future

Starting in 2027, all teams will compete within a unified system and a single level of competition. This new structure will remove barriers to promising talent and create a more direct path for more teams to reach the top of esports. With a tournament-based format and expanded event schedule, the VCT 2027 model will reach more cities, giving more players and fans the opportunity to experience all that esports has to offer.

The new VCT tournament is designed to offer:

• The drama intensified right from the first matches.
• The process of teams progressing to global competitions will be faster.
• More regional events are taking place in cities around the world.
• Greater competitive opportunities for the global VALORANT enthusiast community.

Riot Games will share more details about regional esports schedules, slot allocation, the Game Changers tournament, and venues as the Champions event approaches. With these changes, Riot Games aims to create an esports experience worthy of fan enthusiasm and to honor ideas shared by the community.

This is also a positive innovation for Vietnamese esports, as talented domestic teams have the opportunity to compete in many new arenas, potential players can attract the attention of major esports organizations, and especially have the chance to continue hosting regional and international esports events. From May 15th to 17th, Vietnam will host the VCT 2026 Pacific Stage 1 Finals, marking the first time our country has had the honor of hosting a continental VALORANT esports event.