Riot Games has announced it’s performing a major tournament format shakeup for the VALORANT esports scene, switching to a tournament format.

The new esports landscape will shift to a more open format, with large regional tournaments and an open qualifier system, mirroring a Counter-Strike 2-like ecosystem. However, VALORANT will still partner with teams on a two-year basis, meaning that select teams can still get major support if they promote the game, similarly to the partnership system already in place for the regional leagues.

Everything. Is. A. TOURNAMENT. @lhfaria has bold plans for #VCT in 2027. pic.twitter.com/Kv5ufgiEDx

— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) April 8, 2026

The new VCT format

The new format comes in with the 2027 season. For the first time, teams can qualify via open tournaments, earning the right to major regional events and access to Masters and global Champions events.

Only partner teams will receive digital merchandising support (Team Capsules/in-game skins). Non-partnered teams that qualify will receive cash incentives, access to prize pools totaling over $6 million annually, and fully funded travel for global events, but not the same digital goods benefits as partners.

It incentivizes major brands interested in VALORANT to stay invested and remain partners, while offering the space and support needed for new teams without major backing to attend events and compete, as long as they enter the scene through open qualifiers and perform as well as they can.

What’s being replaced in the VCT

Say goodbye to the regional leagues. Instead, there will be open Cups, which will serve as LAN-based events to determine the top teams in each region. These events shall feature open qualifying play, culminating in live LANs across various cities. Those events will then have qualifying metrics that bring you to the Masters and Championship events as they do now.

So the process of qualifying for big events is changing. But the process in which teams get into the leagues is different, going from partner league teams to more open event coverage and circuits.

In total, the VCT will host over 20 different LAN events throughout the year across different cities. It shall take Valorant to all new locations and in person to help grow the local scenes, regional events, and fandom of the esport.

VCT is about to get better storylines

This is a major move in the esports ecosystem for VALORANT.

Riot ran this type of esports circuit last in 2012 with League of Legends, before it invented the LCS leagues for NA and EU, which then became the franchise leagues we know now.

VALORANT has always been about partnering with teams and growing it through fandom, rather than the franchise model that exists in League. It means that higher-profile teams get fans, money, and ultimately the interest to be partners.

Now, VALORANT has the chance to feature more engaging storylines. Open qualifiers add more stakes and naturally create a more interesting and competitive landscape. It also means there’s more room to grow new fandoms and interest in standout teams through these LAN events and open qualifiers, paving the way for more interest to get into the league.

As a LoL fan, this is something that the LoL scene is incredibly envious of. We have covered the rise of Los Ratones, the viewership numbers, and the general interest in LEC Versus. However, a team that climbed to the LEC as the 12th team in a traditional 10-team league had nowhere else to go. And naturally, that team disbanded. It reformed briefly under a different name, but again, its reliance on the EU Masters and national league ecosystem means there’s a rather hard ceiling that requires 20 million or so to punch through.

VALORANT does not know how good they have it in terms of fan engagement and openings for teams to really have an interesting career. This way of getting around franchising, yet still having partners, means some teams can maintain financial longevity by being interested in the scene, and also allows upstarters who others thought missed their chance at going pro to have those dreams come true.