The VCT Challengers 2024 season looks to be a huge step up from its past, with Riot Games planning to upgrade the VALORANT athlete experience to the fullest through fresh policies, Premier integration, and much more.
Commencing in January 2024, 23 regional leagues from across the world will host a bunch of tournament phases, which will include qualifiers and playoffs, leading to an Ascension tournament in each territory: Asia-Pacific, EMEA, and Americas. But that’s not it—there’s more for undiscovered talent who want to taste VCT’s cutthroat competition.
Riot is finally delivering its promise of offering a “Path to Pro,” serving as a connection between VALORANT’s non-pro base and the VCT circuit.
Starting next season, Premier, the in-game tournament mode that debuted officially in VALORANT’s Episode Seven, will work in tandem with Challengers to offer deserving Premier teams a chance to prove their worth in the official circuits.
“Next year, we will introduce the first Promotion and Relegation event between CL and Premier teams at the end of Stage 1,” Riot said in a release. The event will pit Premier teams in a bracket for a chance to win a slot in stage two of VCT Challengers 2024 and play against Challengers teams. More details about the event will be announced next month, so make sure to keep an eye out if you’re interested.
Riot also announced the introduction of three new policies with VCT Challengers 2024, including affiliate partnerships, two-way players, and player loans, aiming to help boost the Tier Two scene’s development.
Affiliate partnerships will allow International VCT Leagues (the Americas, EMEA, and Pacific) to collaborate with Challengers and Game Changers teams and also enable two-way player contracts and player loans.
All these changes will help build an integrated ecosystem between the professional and semi-professional ecosystems and help fans follow both scenes more closely while helping Tier Two VALORANT talents grow to their utmost potential by offering them a chance in the leagues above them.
Last but not least, aiming to reduce gaps in the calendar, the 2025 VCT Challengers season will begin in October 2024, right after 2024’s Ascension tournaments end in September.
