Riot Games recently announced several changes to VALORANT esports for 2023. This includes the introduction of international and domestic leagues as well as a new competitive game mode for aspiring pro players. VALORANT’s competitive circuit for women, Game Changers, is also set for an expansion to more countries and regions next year.
“We’ll use everything we learned from the past ten years with LoL Esports to build an ecosystem that will supercharge VALORANT into the next great multigenerational esport,” said John Needham, President of Esports at Riot Games.
Riot’s 2023′s esports overhaul will begin with the founding of three international leagues that will include high-performing teams from North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. These leagues will host weekly competitions and LAN events with live audiences. The best teams will face off in two Masters events with the year culminating in a Champions event.
Throughout the rest of the year, Riot plans to seek out teams for long-term “permanent partnership[s].” These partnerships will confer two key benefits to teams. First, selected teams won’t have to pay entry or participation fees, and will instead receive an annual stipend from Riot. Partnered organizations will also have the option to collaborate with the company on in-game events and branded products.
Additionally, Riot announced it would launch domestic leagues for players hoping to make it to international leagues. And, one tier below, a new competitive in-game mode will allow top players to compete against teams in the domestic leagues, creating an on-ramp for new talent to enter the game’s esports scene.
(All information was provided by The Washington Post)
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