VALORANT has come a long way since its inception and is now getting an even bigger ecosystem with its new leagues and #gamechangers program for new talents. Riot has announced its new plans for the EMEA 2022 esports – Europe, Middle East, Africa region for those who don’t know.
Newly announced leagues will also serve as a prototype for Riot to solidify its new esports model throughout the globe.
What does this basically mean? The future circuit structure will provide a level playing field for all levels of Valorant players around the world, from amateurs to VALORANT champions.
Many VALORANT powerhouses are based in EMEA, particularly Europe, like Gambit, G2 Esports, and the VCT 2021 champion itself, Acend. As a result, it's a fantastic blueprint for developing talent from many locations and advancing to the championship.
What will be the new structure of VCT 2022
The format of the VCT 2022 season will differ depending on location. As of yet only the EMEA region will be separated into various leagues. What's new in the VCT 2022 is the amateur VALORANT Regional Circuit (VRC), VALORANT Game Changers, and VALORANT Regional League (VRL).
The three new leagues will provide a solid base for regional candidates to fight versus opponents of their calibre before qualifying for the VALORANT Challengers leagues. Previously, groups of thirty-two teams competed in open qualifications to gain a spot in the Challengers league. Then, teams compete in the Challengers Finals, which awards VCT Circuit points for participation whilst the top two contenders proceed to the Champions Tournament.
This will put an end to the unfair competition in the open qualifiers for the VALORANT Champions tournament where highly skilled teams destroyed the amateurs and semi-professionals.
Breaking down the new leagues of VALORANT esports:
VALORANT Regional Circuit (VRC)
VALORANT will hold tournaments under the VRC series in order to boost the amateur scene in various EMEA areas. Regional circuits will be set up and will allow both amateur and beginners to have a fair start in their professional careers.
VALORANT Regional Leagues (VRL)
These leagues are aimed for the semi professional teams that are above the aforementioned level, having proved themselves in the previous years in the open qualifiers for VCT (VALORANT Champions Tournament).
VRL introduced eight new regional leagues, including Spain, France, the United Kingdom, Poland, the CIS, MENA, Turkey, and DACH. Regional leagues will take place throughout the course of the year in two parts. Champions of these leagues will qualify for the VCT Champions Tour.
Game Changers Initiative
VALORANT is taking its first steps to create a safe environment aimed for women and new teams to compete and develop their skills. The VCT Game Changers EMEA 2022 circuit will be played along the regional leagues and be part of the “wider EMEA ecosystem” creating more opportunity for these teams to compete in both Game Changers and the VRLs and VCT open qualifiers.
Hope this prototype works
With parallel circuits and leagues and the potential criticism for the game changers initiative separating women into a league on their own, we hope Riot’s new format will hold up. It’s innovative and brave what they are doing with their initiative so we are excited to see how EMEA 2022 will play out this year.
All of the events will also be broadcasted officially by VALORANT itself with commentaries in multiple languages such as: Korean, Chinese, English, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, Vietnamese and more
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