Valorant Champions Tour’s Youtube channel just posted a video going over the most important changes for the coming year.
Even though the first ever Valorant Champions are yet to conclude; Riot Games and the Valorant team is already preparing for 2023. Expressing their delight at the growth of Valorant esports this year, and adding they want to take things to the next level.
Firstly, Anna Donlon, Valorant’s Executive Producer, announced they want to integrate esports into the game client. Including info like schedules for matches in the main menu, or improving the Observer tool, so that the broadcasts can be more exciting and the casters can bring even more to the table.
They also shed light on new ways to support our favorite teams. This could mean team-specific cosmetic content, similar to Call of Duty’s CDL skins. The first segment of the video ended with a promise to improve the competitive aspect of the game for all players, so we can prove our mastery even beyond ranked.
Next Whalen Rozelle, Riot’s Head of Global Esports Operations explained the new and improved VCT system going live next year. Challengers, Masters and Champions return in 2023, but the scheduling will be a bit different, and they made some changes to the composition of Challengers.
Challengers will begin with an open qualifier in each stage, followed by a few weeks of competition among the best teams in each region, and ending with a tournament which will determine the participants of the Majors, or Valorant Masters. Next year, Valorant Challengers Stage 1 will begin in February 2023 and will last until the end of March. In April the first Masters tournament will take place, which will give us our first champion squad of the year.
Stage 2 of Challengers will begin in May and end in June, then the best teams from across the globe will fight in the second Masters Tournament in July. After a break in August, Valorant Champion will take place where the World Champions will be crowned, and after the finals the 2023 season of VCT will end.
Room for the new
This makes the Valorant Champions Tour significantly shorter next year than it was this year, but Riot has thought about filling the extra room with more competitions. Firstly, they announced that they will fund and help new regional leagues, which will be similar to last year’s Ignition series. These events are aimed at helping new teams and players rise, while also giving a chance for rebuilding teams to test out their new rosters. League of Legends’ ERL systems is very successful, and the New Tournament Circuit should be something similar to that.
Because of the immense success of Game Changers this year, 2023 will end with a very special event. The global Valorant Game Changers, featuring the best female teams from every region. During the season, regional Game Changers tournaments will be held, concluding in one final Game Changers; and giving us a female World Champion squad after the finals.
Next year of Valorant esports is looking very bright; with Riot Games putting in resources which the game and the scene definitely deserves. ESTNN is looking forward to February, when the next season of the VCT will kick off!
