Riot Games has revealed more of its plans for the 2027 Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) 2027 season.
Earlier this year, Riot revealed it is revamping the VCT format for 2027 with Open Qualifiers and Cups replacing the regular season.
Now, the publisher has revealed more details on how partner teams will work in the open circuits, including how many partners will qualify for Cups.
Plus, Riot has also detailed how teams will be offered financial support to keep the Valorant esports ecosystem healthy.
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Each Region Will Feature Eight VCT Partners
Initially, it was not clear how partnered teams would work as the VCT moved from franchised leagues to open circuits.
Now, Riot has confirmed that eight partnered teams in each region will start the year with the advantage of an automatic invite to their VCT Kickoff.
VCT Americas, Pacific, and EMEA Kickoff 2027 will feature 12 teams — eight partner teams and four teams from Open Qualifiers.
The top three teams from each Kickoff will then qualify for the first Valorant Masters of the year.
However, these partnered teams will not qualify for every Cup. Once the season starts, every team will have to earn their spot.
Continued direct invites to further competitions will require strong performances and high finishes.
Meanwhile, VCT CN will be slightly different as partner and visitor teams will receive direct entry into the Kickoff and first two Cups.
VCT CN Kickoff 2027 will be made up of eight partner teams, two visitors, and two teams from Open Qualifiers.
And VCT Pacific will include a Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ), where the top teams from South Asia and Oceania can fight for qualification into Kickoff and Cups.
How the VCT 2027 Season Will Look
The VCT 2027 season will start with Kickoff and a Masters, Cup 1, then a second Masters, then Cup 2, and finally Champions.
Thoughout the year, Open Qualifiers will feed into these tournaments as will the Wild Card pathway for VCT Pacific.
This format will lead to teams, even partners, being promoted and relegated to different starting points for later events.
Continued progression will be rewarded while more opportunities will be given to the wider competitive Valorant ecosystem.
Teams that place outside the top positions at a Cup or Masters will move down into Open Playoffs and have to fight their way back up.
New teams with no previous results, or teams that perform poorly at the previous Opens will have to start back at the beginning of the next Open Qualifiers.
Riot also specified that invites and progress for teams will remain for Open Qualifier teams, as long as they keep three of their five players.
This means new and content-creator-led teams can compete throughout the year, as long as they don’t make too many changes.
Financial Support for Non-Partner Teams
Riot has promised to offer “predictable financial support” for open teams that qualify for major events.
Open teams that perform well will receive fixed payments based on event qualification:
- Qualify for Kickoff or a Cup: $100,000
- Qualify for Masters: $200,000
- Qualify for Champions: $400,000
Open teams will also be eligible for prize pool earnings, plus there will also be additional incentives.
One example given is if a non-partner team qualifies for the Game Changers Championship, that team will receive an additional $100,000 incentive.
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