Riot Games announced its blueprint for the 5v5 shooter’s competitive tour for 2021 called Valorant Champions Tour.
Set to take place throughout of next year. The global tour will feature competitions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia, and will crown a single global Champion at the end of the year.
The Champions Tour is our next step to grow Valorant into a global esport worthy of the passion of our fans, we’ve spent a couple of years now talking to players, teams, fans, prospective partners, and other stakeholders, and we’re extremely excited to launch our first official season. Our focus will be on elevating and showcasing the creative and talented players who are shaping this game across the globe. Fans and players both wanted high stakes competition, and that’s what the Valorant Champions Tour is designed to do.
Said Whalen Rozelle, Senior Director of Esports at Riot Games.
The Valorant Champions Tour will feature three levels of competition: Challengers, Masters, and Champions. Competing teams would need to begin their journey through the regional Challenger events, before advancing to international Masters events. At the three Masters events set to take place in 2021, top teams will accumulate points which will count towards qualification for the Champions event. This final stage will feature the top sixteen (16) teams in the world and will crown a single global champion.
The initial founding partners committing to the Valorant Champions Tour and the First Strike tournament will be Red Bull and Secretlab. Both have been long-time supporters of esports operated by Riot Games and will play a vital role in growing Valorant from its foundational years. More partners for the Valorant Champions Tour will be announced throughout 2021.
First Strike featured a series of merit-based qualifiers across North America, Europe, CIS, Turkey, Asia, Oceania, Brazil, and the Middle East to identify the best teams in each respective region. The event is set to conclude December 3–6, with live broadcasts taking place on Twitch.tv and other platforms. The winning teams will earn the right to call themselves the first official regional Valorant champions.
The future seems bright for Valorant‘s esports future, and I’m excited to see where this leads.