After the VALORANT Champions Tour has established its home in Europe for the past two years, it looks like North American fans will finally get a taste of the international LAN experience.
According to a report from Alejandro Gomis of BLIX.GG, Riot Games is looking at Los Angeles as a target city to host the 2023 VCT championship tournament in August.
Since VALORANT was released during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the competitive circuit started largely in an online environment, and every LAN tournament seems to have somehow been impacted by the virus as well. Players have missed matches, have had to play from their hotel rooms, among other roadblocks.
The first location for VCT LAN tournaments was in Reykjavik, Iceland, in a relatively isolated environment so players could stay safe while also having the competitive integrity that a LAN experience offers.
Since then, as COVID restrictions have waned, the VCT has hosted major international tournaments in Berlin and Istanbul as well. Regional tournaments have mostly been played online.
Los Angeles is a promising host city if the VCT does decide to hold the championship tournament in the United States this year. Several other esports have held major events in Los Angeles and the surrounding area, like the Overwatch League Grand Finals held in Anaheim last November.
There are other notable cities in America to choose from that are common destinations for international esports events, as well. The LCS championships, for example, were held at the United Center in Chicago last year. And the Esports Stadium in Arlington, Texas is also a popular and compelling destination.
Though VALORANT has seen periods where the competition was dominated by teams from Europe, teams across not only North but also Central and South America have strong fan bases that will be excited to see the esport make its way to the Americas.
Berlin, Istanbul, and Reykjavik have all been fantastic destinations for VCT events in the past, despite certain local restrictions that impacted match schedules and long travel distances for some teams.
There are no details yet of where in the Los Angeles area Riot would hope to host the 2023 VCT Championships, but other events held by the company there in the past provide some possibilities. Riot Games and the LCS are also headquartered in Los Angeles.
European fans may be upset the VCT Championships won’t return for 2023, but American fans now have something huge to look forward to later this summer.
Published: Jan 15, 2023 03:37 pm