Numerous discussions about the packed 2023 and 2024 pro VALORANT schedule have been had since the end of Champions 2023, with many expressing concern about heightened risk of player burnout. While these concerns have been heard at Riot Games, changes won’t be made until 2025.
In a lengthy thread detailing the entire VCT 2023 season and previewing the 2024 competitive campaign, head of VALORANT esports Leo Faria looked even further ahead, to 2025, to address some of the concerns raised about a stacked schedule, lack of player rest, and the early end of the season for certain teams.
Faria stated the VALORANT esports team at Riot believes the current competitive calendar “is a bit too tight from February to August and sparse from September to January.” Starting in 2025, the VCT competition will be more spaced out, with the season starting earlier and ending later while the number of events stays the same.
A packed VCT 2023 schedule that featured little time for rest and rushed to the finish line before the start of September was a major concern amongst some of the players on the teams that made multiple deep runs at international events. At Champions 2023, players on Fnatic and Evil Geniuses expressed how tired they were after deep playoff runs at Masters Tokyo and Champions, with little time off between.
When the 2024 schedule was released, several people around the league were wary of the potential for even more player burnout, especially with a kickoff series, a regular season split, and two Masters events before the middle of the calendar year. Former Team Liquid coach turned content creator Connor “Sliggy” Blomfield remarked back in July he expected fans to hear about player burnout “maybe 10 times the amount” it was heard about in 2023.
More details on the 2025 schedule will be shared next year, but hopefully the news comes as a relief to players preparing for a busy 2024.
