VCT LOCK//IN — Everything you need to know about VCT’s kickoff tournament

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Today marks the start of the 2023 season of the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT). This season will kick off with a new event called the VCT LOCK//IN. At the Ginásio do Ibirapuera arena in São Paulo, international Valorant teams will show off their new rosters for three weeks of thrilling competition. Here’s everything you need to know about VCT LOCK//IN.

VCT LOCK//IN format and how to watch

  32 teams have qualified for VCT LOCK//IN.  

VCT LOCK//IN is the biggest Valorant tournament of all time, with 32 participating teams from the Americas, EMEA, Pacific, and China. Some of these are LOUD, Sentinels, Fnatic, Gen.G, and FPX. In comparison, the VCT Masters Copenhagen featured 12 teams, and VCT Champions 2022 featured 16. The VCT LOCK//IN teams were distributed across two brackets, called Alpha and Omega, with a focus on inter-regional matchups. 

LIVE statistics of the event will be available here

Through a single-elimination format, two teams will emerge from each bracket. Each of the matches will be a Best-of-Three. Next, the remaining four teams will play through the Semifinals. Finally, each Semifinal winner advances to the Grand Finals and has the chance to become the first VCT champion of 2023. 

 Fans can watch VCT LOCK//IN with their favorite streamers.  

The tournament begins today, with the kickoff match between KOI and NRG at 5 pm GMT+0. Alpha bracket matches will play out until February 19. Afterwards, Omega Matches follow from February 22-27. The Semifinals and Finals occur from March 2-4. Valorant fans can follow VCT LOCK//IN on the game’s official Twitch and YouTube channels. In addition, they can tune into official watch parties from notable streamers like Disguised Toast, Karagii, and Tarik. 

In typical VCT fashion, special in-game items are available during VCT//LOCKIN. Riot Games released a series of knives with a color scheme dedicated to each participating region. However, fans can also earn free item drops by watching live matches. The ‘’Locked In’’ title can be acquired from February 13 - March 4, while the “Dad Hat” gun buddy is only available during the Grand Finals.

How many will tune in to watch VCT LOCK//IN?

Valorant Champions is the most-watched VCT event of 2022.

2022 saw four major international VCT tournaments: the VCT 2022: Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík and Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen, the Valorant Champions 2022, and the VCT 2022 Game Changers Championship. They all gained significantly more attention than regional VCT iterations, with VCT Game Changers being the exception as a women-only tournament. For example, the VCT 2022: North America Stage 2 Challengers peaked at 220,000 viewers, whereas the Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen had more than three times as much in PV. Last year's most popular VCT tournament was the Valorant Champions 2022, with nearly 61 million Hours Watched. 1.5 million PV watched LOUD earn the champions title in their match against OpTic Gaming. The tournament also had a significant prize pool of $1 million. In second and third place are the two VCT 2022: Masters editions. Both were relatively even in terms of viewership numbers, with the Stage 1 Masters Reykjavík slightly ahead. While it reached over 1 million PV during its final between OpTic and LOUD, its successor in Copenhagen stayed below the 1 million mark at 780,000 PV. This difference could be attributed to the final match-up in Copenhagen. 

The two finalists FunPlus Phoenix and Paper Rex, tend to attract a smaller crowd than teams with larger fanbases, such as LOUD and OpTic. Interestingly, the Valorant Champions 2022 final was a rematch of the Masters Reykjavík final between LOUD and OpTic. The resulting hype could have contributed to the impressive viewership numbers of Valorant Champions. 

Thanks to immense public attention, VCT LOCK//IN might be able to keep up with the most-watched tournament of 2022. However, the event could suffer from its format, criticized by Valorant professionals and fans. The single-elimination brackets and the early date of VCT LOCK//IN made some teams approach the tournament with a more laid-back attitude, as reported by Dexerto. Although Riot will return to a double-elimination format in its subsequent events, LOCK//IN might attract fewer fans due to its lower competitive status. Still, VCT LOCK//IN is the biggest global playground in the short history of Valorant esports. Despite less competitive matches, fans can look forward to an international Valorant spectacle with new rosters and a new season.