The next era of VALORANT esports for teams and players from Europe, Turkey, and CIS officially has a new home for the 2023 season.
When the VCT EMEA league officially kicks off in March 2023, following the conclusion of the São Paulo Kickoff event featuring all 30 global partnered teams, the 10 teams competing in EMEA will do battle at a new studio at the Messe Berlin Charlottenburg.
This new studio, currently in the process of being built, is across town from Riot’s Berlin headquarters and the LEC Studio. Obviously, with LEC and VCT EMEA taking place at similar times, the two cannot share a studio. Additionally, official VALORANT events and stages have been attempting to carve out their own style and feel over the past two years, different from the events for pro League of Legends.
The VCT EMEA team also officially revealed the format for the inaugural season next year. The league will consist of a single round-robin format taking place over eight weeks, with matches taking place on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, with the exception of a single super week. Each team will play nine matches, one against all other nine competitors.
The top six teams from the league will move on to a modified double-elimination bracket. A currently unknown number of top-placing teams from the VCT EMEA playoffs will move on to the Masters events in June, followed by the Last Chance Qualifier in July, and finally Champions in August. Additionally, Challengers will coincide with the VCT EMEA schedule, culminating in an Ascension tournament in July where one team will earn a two-year promotion slot for VCT EMEA the following year.
In the following years, the international VCT leagues will consist of two regular season splits. But for the inaugural season in 2023, the first split will be replaced with the São Paulo Kickoff event.
