Riot Games Reveals VALORANT TIER-2 Scene Details for 2023

Riot Games has unveiled the details of the TIER-2 scene for VALORANT for 2023, including new championships and details on how teams can advance to the TIER-1 level. As the VALORANT Champions Tour changes dramatically in 2023, the organizers have unveiled a revamped Challengers Regional Series.

We believe the path to Champions should start directly in VALORANT. Earlier this year, we shared the initial details of an in-game competitive system for you and your teammates that goes beyond ranked play. The VALORANT development team is focused on making sure the core experience meets player expectations at scale. We have huge ambitions to integrate this system directly into the VCT. Looking ahead to 2024, the top teams coming out of this system will have a chance to qualify directly from the Challengers game. We want to create an unbreakable connection between VALORANT and VCT on a global scale with a bridge where the lowest ranked Challenger teams have to defend their place against the newest batch of online superstars.

As part of VALORANT Challengers, teams that did not qualify for the affiliate program will compete. Riot Games will expand the Challengers Series next year to reach more players in more regions. In addition, teams that start in Challengers will have access to international leagues and eventually even global tournaments. This system will help draw emerging stars into a fully interconnected ecosystem with bigger events and new tournaments.

In 2023, the Challengers Series will span over 20 leagues around the world, ensuring every player has a chance to enter the TIER-1 scene. The leagues will begin with open qualifiers and will split the top teams into two legs of a multi-week regular season game. Each Regional Challenger League will culminate in a playoff where one team will be champions of that league!

The top TIER-2 teams with the Challengers will take part in a promotion tournament called the Ascension. In turn, the winners of the Ascension series guarantee themselves a slot in the partner league for the next 2 years.

Thus, each partner league will be replenished by one team every year. However, teams that have made it through the Ascension Series will lose their spots after 2 years and revert back to the Challengers.The interim result is set for 2027, when the number of participants in each partner league will reach 14 participants.

In addition, in 2024, the promised in-game tournament mode will become part of the VALORANT esports system, from where teams can qualify for the Challengers. The developers promised to provide specific information about the open qualifiers for each region, the schedule of Challengers and Ascension tournaments.