The VALORANT Champions Tour made its debut earlier in 2021, as First Strike kicked off the now months long and continent spanning circuit. After two international LANs and countless domestic competitions, the VCT is mere days away from crowning its first VALORANT World Champion. While this is happening, Riot Games have also laid out the road map for the VCT heading into 2022.
In an announcement video, VALORANT devs discussed what is next for esports. Instead of three Masters tournament, there will be two in 2022. Challengers will span two months and crown domestic champions as well as qualifiers for the international Masters LANs. Masters will take place in April and July with qualified teams competing at the climatic Champions event in September.
In the ‘offseason’ from October to December, Riot Games will partner with third-party tournament organizers to run more competition ahead of the next VCT season. These tournaments will not overlap as to give each one more focus and ‘the eyes of the community.’ During this time, Riot’s Game Changers initiative will also play during this time period.
Esports is also set to be more integrated into the main VALORANT game client. Matches of the week will appear in the client and VALORANT devs promise new ways for fans to support their favorite teams. A Clash-like system was similarly described, giving players an opportunity to compete beyond ranked and give a pathway to the pros.
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Image Credits: VCT