Back in June of 2022, Riot Gaming unveiled its plan for Valorant esports in 2023. It also introduced the three premier leagues: Americas, Europe, and Asia. Riot invited organizations to send applications for partnership in the League for the same premier leagues.
The partnership program or “Franchising” would be a process where Riot will select ten teams for the leagues and help them to nurture a system where teams and Valorant Esports will flourish and grow.
These organizations will be long-time partners with Riot for Valorant and will likely receive stipends from Riot to help them run the teams and compete at the highest level.
As Reported by Dexerto, these Stipends could range anywhere from 600k to 1.5m, where the teams in Asia are likely to receive less as the operation cost in Asia is lesser than in Europe and the Americas, and the highest this number can go is 1.5 million dollars annually.
What is Riot’s plan for Valorant Esports in 2023?
The Valorant Esports 2023 can be summarized as follows:
- Three Premier level leagues for World’s top team viz. Americas, Europe, and Asia
- Partnership program for Organizations to be part of the Premier leagues, which Riot would shortlist.
- Shortlisted teams to get an incentive to develop a good ecosystem for talent.
- Consistent and Frequent Inter-Regional and Global tournaments
- Additional Regional Leagues and Expansion of Current VCT system
- A new in-game mode where players and team can showcase their talents to get into the Regional Leagues
What exactly is the partnership program?
Similar to the League of legends LCQ, LCK, etc., the Valorant League will be a high-level weekly competition between the partnered teams, eventually culminating in a Global tournament.
As mentioned by Riot, “For 2023, we will select partner teams across our three international leagues who have a track record of building great esports experiences, developing players, and can meaningfully contribute to the long-term growth of VALORANT esports.”
These 8-10 teams per region will compete weekly and, like Overwatch league or LOL leagues, will consummate in Finals. The selection process has already attracted applications from multiple organizations, and the teams are expected to be announced soon.
