VALORANT unveils major changes for VCT 2025: Longer Season, New locations and more

VALORANT unveils major changes for VCT 2025: Longer Season, New locations and more

Ganesh Jadhav

21 Jul, 2024, 15:05

|

Last updated: 9 Apr, 2025, 15:48

With VCT 2024 successfully concluding with the VALORANT Champions 2024 Grand Finals this weekend, Riot Games and VALORANT are already preparing for 2025.

With new locations, restructured leagues, a longer schedule addressing the criticism of 2024, VALORANT plans to make 2025 bigger and better.

But before that, let’s see what the rest of 2024 has in store for us.

VCT 2024 Off//Season:

Following the conclusion of Champions 2024, VALORANT immediately prepares for Ascension 2024. The tournament will give us four new teams that will join the International Leagues for the 2025 season.

The Game Changers Championship, scheduled for November, will then follow Ascension. Set to take place in the new Riot Games Arena in Berlin, the tournament will crown the best Game Changers team of 2024.

Finally, the OFF//SEASON will officially begin for all Tier 1 teams, with fan-favorite events such as Red Bull Home Ground, Ludwig X Tarik Invitational, Spike Nations and more returning for 2024.

VCT 2025: Longer Season (Finally)

The upcoming VCT will feature a longer VALORANT year as compared to 2024. The Challengers circuits around the world will kick off in October 2024 and the International Leagues start January 2025.

VCT 2025 Overall schedule

  • January 2025 - VCT Kickoff 2025
  • February 2025 - VCT Masters Bangkok
  • March - May 2025 - International League Stage 1
  • June 2025 - VCT Masters Toronto
  • July - August 2025 - International League Stage 2
  • October 2025 - VALORANT Champions Paris

Changes to come with VCT 2025

  • Longer season, January to October, with players breaks.
  • Championship points for every competition.
  • New Kickoff Format - 12 teams to play in a direct Double elimination bracket.
    • Top 2 from each league qualifies to Masters Bangkok.
  • Stage 1 records will not carry over to Stage 2.
    • Top 3 from Stage 1 Playoffs qualifies for Masters Toronto.
  • International League Playoffs will feature eight instead of six teams.
  • IL teams can create academy rosters to compete in Challengers (But they cannot compete in Ascensions)
  • A new structure with Promotion and Relegations.

These changes are aimed at creating a competitive environment and addressing the criticism of the 2024 season. VALORANT also aims to further refine their ‘Path to Pro’ initiative during the upcoming year.

More details regarding the new season will be announced in the upcoming days. Follow Valorant Champions Tour on X/Twitter for latest updates.

Stay tuned on Strafe as we bring you the latest updates on VCT 2025.

Featured Image Credits: 

Read More:

VALORANT Champions 2024 Finals Weekend: Teams, Fixtures, Preview and Prediction

VALORANT heads to Paris for Champions 2025

Latest news

VALORANT Patch 13.10: Sentinel Buffs, Replay Bookmarks, and Gauntlet Changes

VALORANT Patch 13.10: Sentinel Buffs, Replay Bookmarks, and Gauntlet Changes

Patch 13.10 brings shorter cooldowns for Cypher, Killjoy, and Vyse, private Replay Bookmarks, Sage targeting improvements, and Gauntlet: Glitched changes.
5h
Bruno Rodrigues

Aspas Reportedly Joins FUT Esports for 2027

Brazilian VALORANT world champion Erick "aspas" Santos has reached an agreement to join Turkish organization FUT Esports in Istanbul ahead of the upcoming 2027 VCT season.
5h
Kaustavmani Choudhury

Sacy Leaves MIBR After Nearly Two Years as Streamer Amid T1 Coaching Reports

Sacy thanked MIBR after leaving his content creator role, as reports continue to link the former world champion with T1's coaching staff for 2027.
16h
Bruno Rodrigues

VALORANT's Winter-Themed Snowfall Collection Returns After 5 Years

VALORANT's beloved Winter-themed skin collection, Snowfall, is set to return with a sequel bundle, as per leaks. Here's everything we know so far.
9 Nov
Adarsh J. Kumar

Riot Disqualifies VCT 2027 Qualifier Semifinalist for Cheating

A VCT EMEA Kickoff 2027 qualifier semifinalist has been disqualified after Riot confirmed cheating software was used by a team participant. Aurora Gaming now gets another chance to qualify.
8 Nov
Bruno Rodrigues

Zellsis rejoins Sentinels ahead of 2027 season

Sentinels officially announced on X that Masters Madrid winner Jordan "Zellsis" Montemurro has rejoined the organization. This high-profile return comes in the wake of a dramatic offseason shakeup across the VALORANT ecosystem.
7 Nov
Kaustavmani Choudhury

Champions 2026 Finalist Derke Suffers Shock Qualifier Exit With Aurora Gaming

Derke, Boo, trexx, B1SK and chiwa crashed out of the first European VCT EMEA Kickoff 2027 qualifier after BONK overturned an 11-3 deficit on Bind.
7 Nov
Bruno Rodrigues

Comments (0)

Log in to comment on this match