Riot Games Lays Out Roadmap, New Policies for VCT Challengers 2024

In August 2023, Riot Games and the Valorant esports division revealed their plans and visions for Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Challengers and the path to going pro in a blog post. Global head of Valorant esports Leo Faria talked about the changes to the Valorant Tier 2 ecosystem and the integration of the Premier system to the Challengers scene.

Furthering those idea, Riot Games delved deep into what’s in store for fans of Valorant esports in 2024.

It said, “Having previously shared some initial details in our Season 2024 Announcement and subsequent deep dive into Challengers, we want to provide a clear roadmap for this layer of the ecosystem.“

VCT Challengers 2024 Calendar: Promotion & Relegation Event Planned

Riot Games stated that the evolution of Challengers and Ascension tournaments continues with the goal of fostering opportunities for players who aspire to reach the highest levels of the VCT.

VCT Challengers serves as a regional showcase, offering competitions that identify the best players from the many Valorant communities around the globe. Riot said, “The ethos of our strategy—inspiration, aspiration, and participation— will further be reinforced with Premier, which will be deeply integrated with Challengers.“

However, it added that it shall be revealing more details about the integration of Premier in November 2023.

Valorant 2024 Esports pyramid

The publisher stated that in 2024, VCT Challengers will span the entire year to ensure that there is steady competition in the Tier 2 framework. Additionally, the next season will unfold across two distinct stages, said Riot, providing organized play starting in January and qualifying teams for the Ascension tournament in September.

For the start of VCT Challengers in January, most Leagues will host ‘Open Qualifiers’ while some will welcome back familiar teams from the 2023 season. Every stage will end with the playoffs, celebrating the best of the season’s teams. Notably, specific information for each one of the Challengers League (CL) shall be rolled out via those regional channels.

Next year, Riot Games is looking forward to introducing the first Promotion and Relegation event between CL and Premier teams at the end of Stage 1.

In this event, Premier teams will fight through a bracket for the chance to compete against CL teams and win a spot in Stage 2 of the CL Season.

“Teams who aspire to qualify into Challengers should be on the lookout for our upcoming region specific information in early November,” noted Riot.

Following the 2024 Ascension Tournaments in September, the Challengers 2025 season will immediately kick off in October. With this earlier start, Riot Games hopes to minimize gaps in the calendar, while still giving Ascension winners enough time to prepare for the next international event.

Apart from these changes, starting with the 2024 Challenger Season, Riot is also building some new policies. These include the following: