Valorant Champions Tour 2025 preview: key changes, new formats and teams to watch
Valorant esports enjoyed its most successful year yet in 2024. The game received millions of hours of watch time, reached a new peak viewership record, and introduced significant changes to develop and enhance its competitive format. Esports Charts presents an overview of the key changes in Valorant, the upcoming developments in 2025, and the trends to watch for this year.
What changed in Valorant last year?
For the 2024 season, Riot Games shifted the focus towards regional events, placing less emphasis on international competitions. The previous LOCK//IN tournament was replaced with Kickoff events in each International League (IL), a new IL was established for China, and each league was expanded to two Stages a year.
This transition to more regionally-focused competitions allowed for strong rivalries to drive viewership. Consequently, the VCT 2024: Americas Kickoff Grand Final between North Americas’ Sentinels and Brazil’s LOUD reached 832,000 Peak Viewers (PV), the highest ever Valorant viewership for a regional event. Cumulatively, the regional Kickoff events in 2024 received a larger total watch time than the previous year’s single LOCK//IN event.
On the Game Changers (GC) side of the scene, the championship event was expanded to 10 total teams and Riot Games loosened rules to give players more potential for advancement. Firstly, Game Changers players are now able to compete in both Challengers and Premiere alongside Game Changers itself. Also, GC players can now also be signed to a VCT team irrespective of transfer windows and the residency rule, which states VCT teams can field only one player from outside their region.
Riot Games’ significant expansion of the circuit coincided with Game Changers reaching its highest peak viewership ever at the 2024 Championship. Valorant’s women and marginalized genders scene is one of the most successful in esports, and it dominated our Female Esports 2024 report.
Last year, the VCT received over 260M Hours Watched (HW), becoming one of the most-watched esports series of the year. The viewership of the VCT continues to rise as Riot Games perfect their esports system for their shooter title. Some crucial changes to the VCT 2024’s schedule amplified regional audiences and excited fans for its international events. These developments had significant effects on both the viewership and competitive results of the VCT, and Riot Games have even more in store for 2025.
What is changing for the Valorant Champions Tour 2025?
Carried over from 2024, the general format of last year’s Champions Tour will not be changed for 2025. The schedule sees the year begin with regional Kickoff events, then host two Masters events, each followed by a Stage of the ILs, before the final Valorant Champions 2025 to be held in France. For 2025, Riot have introduced a longer break before Stage 2 of the ILs begin; they believe this may allow teams more time to come to the stage with fresh, polished ideas.
For the upcoming 2025 season, Riot Games are bringing some changes to the VCT format, specifically the Champions Points system and introducing academy teams for VCT partners. Riot Games have not only announced changes to the VCT in 2025, but also to the second-tier Valorant Challengers circuit, which is being revitalised and given fresh competition.
New rules for non-partner teams in the VCT
Since establishing the Challengers circuit, which supplies a direct route to the VCT, Riot Games have been perfecting exactly how they envision non-partner teams competing in Valorant’s franchised system. Replacing Riot’s previous two-year contract, non-partner VCT teams in 2025 are now offered a single-year term, with a possibility for extension based on performance. Riot has also capped each IL at 12 total teams, meaning only two non-partnered rosters can compete in each region.
If a non-partnered team finishes the year in 9th-12th place of their IL, they are automatically relegated back to the VCL. Finishing in 5th-8th place means the non-partner team must compete at Ascension to play for their spot. Only finishing in the region’s top four, ie. qualifying for Champions, ensures a term-extension for the following year. However, if both non-partner teams qualify for Champions, the lower-seeded team will have to compete at Ascension. In the case that both non-partnered teams in a region are relegated in the same year, the winner and runner-up of the Ascension tournament will be promoted.
Change in the Champions Points distribution system
To support the new relegation/promotion system, the VCT is receiving a revamped Champions Points system for 2025 to ensure a broader and more consistent allocation of points. One major complaint among both teams and fans regarding the VCT 2024 was that teams received no points at international tournaments unless they won the entire event. For example, 100 Thieves earned no points for their 4th place finish at VCT 2024: Masters Shanghai, causing them to miss out on a spot at Champions.
Starting in 2025, teams finishing in the top four of Kickoff, both IL Stages, and Masters 1 will earn Championship Points. However, the second Masters holds even more weight, as the top six teams will receive points rather than just the top four. This improved points system for the VCT should ensure teams can more consistently collect points throughout the season, also, Valorant Champions 2025 will welcome two teams based on Championship Points instead of only one team per region qualifying based on points.
Challengers League overhaul
Below the VCT, many other changes are coming to overhaul the Challengers Leagues. Similar to a system used in League of Legends, VCT partner teams are now allowed to build their own academy rosters to compete in the VCL. More than 15 organizations across the Pacific, EMEA, and Americas have already announced they will field academy teams in 2025, including Sentinels, Karmine Corp, Gen.G Esports, and many more teams.
The VCL is also expanding to a three-split format before the promotional Ascensions events take place. Riot Games experimented with a third Spilt in some Asian regions last year, and they have decided to take the plunge globally. Each Split offers a new chance for a Premier team to qualify for Challengers, meaning these changes should give more opportunities for rising players and open the door for more competition through the in-game Premier system.
VCL is also being compressed across Europe and Asia. Regions such as Italy, Portugal, and Spain all now compete under the Challengers Spain umbrella, and in Asia, six individual circuits have joined to become Southeast Asia. Ideally, these new condensed VCL regions will offer better competition, feature exciting intra regional rivalries, and generate a larger total viewership for the affected circuits. For example, smaller circuits like Hong Kong and Taiwan may see their fans more likely to support a top team from their region against Southeast Asia’s best, rather than competing against other teams from the same small circuit.
All in all, changes largely come down to improving what Riot Games have already created, and future-proofing the esports scene. The new Championship Points system and rules regarding non-partner teams are refinements of last year’s tour, and the revitalised support for the Challengers scene is something pundits and players have been calling for.
What to watch out for in the Valorant Champions Tour 2025?
Team Vitality’s new superstar squad for 2025
Last year, Team Vitality started slow but eventually finished the EMEA Stage 2 in 2nd place, qualifying for the Champions event. At the tournament, the team recorded its highest peak viewership ever, and 2025 looks like it could bring even more viewership to the team. For 2025, Team Vitality have shaken up their roster by signing former Fnatic star Nikita “Derke” Sirmitev and Valorant Champions 2022 winner Felipe “Less” de Loyola Basso.
Although signing the best players on paper does not always pan out perfectly in the server, the new Team Vitality roster has already got fans dreaming what they could achieve, meaning these two additions will likely bring more attention to the teams’ games, especially early in the year.
Karmine Corp & Gentle Mates’ rebuilt rosters give hope for French viewership
In 2024, two French teams with large internet personalities behind them competed in the VCT EMEA, Gentle Mates and Karmine Corp. These teams, supported by co-casts from their content creator founders, have the potential to bring hundreds of thousands of French-speaking viewers to Valorant events.
French language viewership enjoyed a high peak at the VCT 2024: EMEA Kickoff when Karmine Corp defeated Fnatic in the Grand Final, even overtaking English-speaking fans, and some strong viewership results throughout the early season. However, the two teams struggled competitively as the season progressed, leading to slowly diminishing viewership for the squads.
For 2025, both Karmine Corp and Gentle Mates have completely rebuilt their rosters. Both squads picked up players from tier two competition, but Karmine Corp also secured Dmitry "SUYGETSU" Ilyushin and Matias "Saadhak" Delipetro, two long-time veterans of the VCT, who will bring much-needed experience to the roster. If these teams perform competitively at a top level and continue to be supported by co-casts from their founders, French viewership could skyrocket in 2025. Considering Valorant Champions 2025 will be held in Paris, France, Valorant could very well reach a new French-language record if either team appears on stage in Paris.
Potential for Indonesian growth in the VCT Pacific 2025
In 2025, the VCT Pacific will feature three Indonesian teams, an unprecedented presence for the region. Singapore-based team Paper Rex has achieved major success in Valorant with their Indonesian-core of players, and developed a passionate fanbase in Asia. Indonesian organization and team Rex Regum Qeon also joined the VCT Pacific in 2023, and now, fellow Indonesian team BOOM Esports qualified for the VCT Pacific 2025 through Ascension.
Indonesia is one of the world’s largest esports audiences, particularly known for its massive following of mobile gaming esports like Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, which regularly receives millions of Indonesian viewers for top events. With three Indonesian teams now competing in the VCT Pacific and Valorant’s expansion into mobile gaming in late 2024, 2025 is set to be a milestone year for Indonesian esports.
Last year, we observed a similar phenomenon with Korean-language viewership for Valorant. Famed South Korean organization Gen.G were extremely competitive throughout 2024, winning Masters Shanghai and finishing Masters Madrid as runner-up. Their performance on the big stage saw Korean-language viewership almost double its peak compared to 2023.
A revitalised Brazilian scene for the VCT Americas 2025
2024 was a disappointing year for Brazilian viewership of the VCT. Portuguese-speaking fans have usually been crucial for the VCT, and despite three Brazilian teams competing in the circuit, last year saw the audience pull back slightly. Excluding the strong performance of LOUD at the Americas Kickoff and first Masters of the year, Brazilian teams struggled competitively against other American teams. As a result, international events missed their usual passionate Brazilian viewers.
Coming into 2025, the Brazilian scene has been totally shaken up at the top-level. Two of LOUD’s star players, Saadhak and Less, have left the team to join the EMEA circuit for 2025. To replace them, LOUD have signed Douglas "dgzin" Silva and Vinicius "v1nNy" Gonçalves, two players who were most recently competing in Brazil’s tier two Valorant scene. LOUD’s new in-game leader v1nNy has a tough task ahead of him to lead the famed Brazilian squad through the VCT in 2025.
Both FURIA Esports and MIBR have also overhauled their rosters, with the latter building the team around star player Erick "aspas" Santos. Critically for the viewership of MIBR, aspas is one of Brazil’s most popular players. The Brazilian previously competed with LOUD, where he became a fan-favourite for Valorant viewers from Brazil. If FURIA, MIBR and LOUD, can show competitive results both intra regionally and on the international stage, Brazilian viewership would likely once again dominate the VCT.
Another entry to bolster the Brazilian fans in the VCT, Brazil’s 2GAME Esports will join the VCT Americas in 2025 after winning Ascension. The organization entered Valorant in early 2024, and they immediately showed strong results in the Brazilian Challengers circuit. The team looked strong against other tier two teams, but they will have to prove themselves against the Americas’ best in 2025. With four total Brazilian teams competing in the VCT Americas 2025, fans will have no shortage of teams to cheer for.
The Valorant Champions Tour 2025 promises to be a landmark year for the competitive scene, with significant structural developments and a roster of talented teams and players ready to shine. With the changes to the Champions Points system, fans can look forward to unforgettable moments and groundbreaking plays throughout the entire year as teams compete with higher stakes. Following a record-setting 2024, the new season is set to refine Valorant’s viewership, and continue the game’s journey as one of esports’ favourite games.
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