Valorant: What is the partnership structure being implemented starting from VCT 2023?

Valorant: What is the partnership structure being implemented starting from VCT 2023?

The new season kicks of in February from Sao Paulo, Brazil

With the end of Champions 2022 coming closer with every passing moment, Riot Games has just announced its plans to shake up the whole competitive circuit around the game.

Valorant’s competitive circuit is set to start a franchise-like structure after this offseason ends, beginning with a kickoff tournament being organised by Riot in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The event will feature all teams which would be a part of this franchise structure.

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Valorant’s reimagined circuit to feature region-wise leagues

Valorant: What is the partnership structure being implemented starting from VCT 2023?
Acend remain the current and only World Champions of Valorant, with a new champion set to be crowned soon

Valorant Champions Tour 2023 is set to start a franchise-like structure for its whole tournament circuit. Riot isn’t calling this setup “franchising” exactly, instead calling it a partnership system. Organisations will enter into legal partnerships with Riot Games, where all the partner teams will be allowed to participate in the league, and in return, Riot will be receiving the teams’ intellectual property.

All the partner teams will be given a spot in one of the three international leagues Riot will be organising this year. Each league will be comprised of teams from the Americas, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Asia regions. Each league will have 10 partner teams from the namesake region, making a total of 30 teams which will be partnering with Riot Games.

Teams taking part in the league will be getting a share of the revenue they generate from in-game cosmetics made using their intellectual property. Spots in the league will be free, but all teams will need to fulfil contractual obligations. They will also be judged by Riot in terms of their finances to determine if they can bear the costs involved in being part of this structure.

Riot will be giving partnered teams a stipend, which is going to be a minimum of $600,000, with an added $400,000 to be awarded if teams achieve certain incentives set for them. The Americas league will happen in Los Angeles, USA, the Asia league in Seoul, South Korea and the EMEA league in Berlin, Germany with Riot giving teams an additional stipend for travel and living costs.

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The new season of professional Valorant is set to start in February, with Riot organising a kickoff tournament for this new format featuring all 30 partner teams in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The winner of this tournament will be giving their region an extra spot in the season’s Masters tournament.

Non-partnered teams will be competing in the Challengers tournament of the season which will culminate in an “Ascension” tournament. Winners of this tournament will be guaranteed a spot in the next year’s international league.

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