Riot Games have come out and announced an overhaul to the Valorant Challengers system going into 2023.

Challengers will play an important role in bringing attention to up-and-coming talent critical for the long-term success of Valorant, testing teams aspiring to play in the International leagues, and bridging the sport and the game.

Next year, will expand Challengers to cover more players in more regions. Additionally, teams starting in Challengers will have a pathway into the international leagues and, eventually, global events.

In 2023, Challengers will encompass more than 20 leagues around the world, ensuring every Valorant player has a path to realize their competitive dreams. These Challenger Leagues will provide highly organised competitions that begin with open qualifiers and ladder the best teams into two splits of multi-week regular season play. Each Challenger split will culminate in a playoff tournament where a single team will be crowned as that league’s champion.

To ensure that these players and teams receive the attention their skills deserve, the biggest Challenger leagues will receive dedicated broadcast windows that will be scheduled to avoid conflicts with international league matches.

PROMOTION INTO INTERNATIONAL LEAGUES

Each year, international leagues will expand by one team, until hitting a cap of 14 teams in 2027. Teams who win Challengers Ascension will earn a two-year promotion into their territory’s international league. Promoted teams will have the opportunity to prove themselves against the international league teams during the VCT season, receive similar league benefits, and have an equal chance to qualify for Masters and Champions. After two years, teams will return to their league to battle their way back through Challengers and Ascension tournaments.

The Valorant dev team is focused on ensuring the core experience meets the expectations of players at scale. Riot also has huge ambitions for integrating this system directly into the VCT. Looking ahead to 2024, the top teams emerging from this system will get a chance to qualify directly from the game into Challengers.

Riot wants to create a seamless connection between Valorant and the VCT at a global scale through a bridge of make-or-break moments where the lowest ranked Challenger teams have to defend their place against the newest batch of online superstars. More on this system will be shared before the end of the year.

Later this fall, Riot will be releasing specific information about each region’s open qualifiers, Challenger schedule, and the Ascension tournaments. This will provide aspiring teams with a clear roadmap on the next step of their VALORANT journey. As the VCT 2022 season wraps up, we can expect Riot to share more information on international leagues, global events, and partnered teams in the coming weeks.