The new partnership program has been well underway and has proven effective at keeping the scene stable. Here are the current teams that are a part of it.
Starting 2023, the Valorant Champions Tour as we previously knew changed forever. In exchange, a new pyramid system came into play - sitting at the top, the organizations selected as "Riot partners" will compete in three international leagues covering the most important Valorant regions.
This changed a lot, and helped the organization from a financial standpoint, stabilizing their orgs and growing throughout 2023. Initially, Riot mentioned that the domestic leagues would help kickstart the tier 2 scene along the GC, with teams competing in Challengers for a spot in the International Leagues 2024 and beyond. While this is good news, many teams didn't get motivated as they didn't want to compete at that "lower level".
Since then, some teams dropped entire rosters, and we even had a case where a team got a spot in Franchising but didn't manage to keep the slot and disbanded. That team is The Guard, and their whole roster just got signed by G2 to turn their fate around.
Franchised Valorant Teams For 2023
It's time to see which teams are "secure" and are a part of Riot's Valorant partnership system. Get ready, because some big names might have been left out and are awaiting their chance after this off-season.
As a reminder, the three leagues are divided by regions: North America, Latin America, and Brazil will compete in AMERICAS; Europe, Russia, Turkey, and MENA will compete in EMEA; And finally, Southeast Asia, Korea, Japan, South Asia, and Oceania will play in PACIFIC. China is the latest one that has been revealed & announced and will be a part of Valorant's partnership system starting in 2024.
VCT Americas:
- Sentinels
- Cloud9
- 100 Thieves
- NRG
- Evil Geniuses
- FURIA
- LOUD
- MIBR
- KRÜ Esports
- Leviatán
VCT EMEA
- Fnatic
- Team Liquid
- Team Vitality
- Karmine Corp
- Team Heretics
- Giants
- NAVI
- FUT Esports
- BBL Esports
- KOI
VCT Pacific
- ZETA DIVISION
- Detonation Gaming
- Gen.G
- T1
- DRX
- Team Secret
- Paper Rex
- Rex Regum Qeon
- Talon Esports
- Global Esports
VCT China
- TBD
- TBD
- TBD
- TBD
- TBD
- TBD
Valorant: What Are The Requirements To Become A Franchised Team
Once the process was over, Riot introduced the system and explained what they looked for in the teams and why each of them got picked in the process. The process lasted a couple of months, and each of the teams had to send a written application, do interviews (with Riot) & have their finances reviewed.
In the process, there three core aspects were taken into place:
- Partnership Orgs, have to share the values of putting fans first, celebrate Valorant's diverse community & commit to supporting the pro players
- The chosen orgs were ones that created a strong core connection with their fans through engaging content, compelling brand & an exciting assembled roster
- Last but not least, the orgs have to build for the long term and be sustainable
This system isn't familiar just for Valorant and has proven effective in other games as well. A healthy competitive scene means longevity for the game, as an exciting scene means fans will stay and the player base will not decrease. VCT Champions 2023 was the most exciting event so far in Valorant, and the partnership system is one of the reasons why.
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