VALORANT announces expansion of teams in VCT regions in 2024
VALORANT esports has made an exciting announcement after each region of the VCT concluded its regular season. The number of teams competing in each region will be expanded in 2024, which is something many players and fans have been eagerly waiting for.
This year marks the first official franchised league for VALORANT, and the new format has already generated captivating storylines and new rivalries. However, some organizations that didn’t make it through the franchising process last year have felt the disappointment of missed opportunities.
Fortunately, Riot has announced that the winners of the VCT Challengers Ascension tournaments, which will be held later this summer, will have the chance to play in their respective main VCT regions.
Following the conclusion of Masters Tokyo in the main league, these tournaments will take place in three different countries, one for each region.
- Challengers Ascension: Pacific will be held in Bangkok, Thailand from June 28 to July 9.
- Challengers Ascension: EMEA will be held in Berlin, Germany from June 30 to July 16.
- Challengers Ascension: Americas will be held in São Paulo, Brazil from June 30 to July 9.
Many organizations and players who didn’t make it through franchising have been competing in the Challengers leagues for their respective regions and continuously building their teams. This presents an exciting opportunity for these teams, many of which have players with tournament-winning experience in previous iterations of the VCT, to reach the main stage.
While Riot hasn’t explicitly stated that the winners of the Ascension tournaments will become partnered organizations, they will still have the opportunity to compete in the main VCT league and have an equal chance to participate in the Masters and Champions tournaments. Riot also mentioned that the three additional teams will receive “similar league benefits” to the already-partnered rosters.
Winning Ascension will essentially give each team the opportunity to be promoted to the main VCT league in 2024. With this change, each region will now have 11 teams, resulting in a total of 33 teams in the league next year.
Each region has slightly different formats for the Ascension tournament, as the Challengers leagues in each region also have distinct formats. All the teams participating in Ascension have been competing in the VCT Challengers leagues throughout the year, with Ascension being the final tournament of the season.
You can find specific details about each tournament here, including the qualification process and tournament format.
VALORANT esports, VCT, Challengers Ascension, main VCT region, franchised league, tournament, teams, expansion, 2024