Riot Games revealed on the official VALORANT Esports Indonesia YouTube channel that Bangkok, Thailand would host VCT Ascension Pacific 2023.
The tournament is set to take place between June 28 and July 9, and it will include ten teams, each of which represents a VCT sub-region in the Asia Pacific. The Ascension champion will be promoted to the VCT Pacific League for the next two seasons.
With the release of the VCT structure and the Ascension League, Riot Games radically altered the Valorant competitive scene.
However, the company’s new franchise system has altered which clubs are eligible to compete in the tournament beginning in 2023, despite the event’s otherwise familiar format.
With regard to the VCT, the championship will feature 30 teams representing three different zones. Others from these areas will participate in regional tournaments to earn a berth in the Valorant Ascension League.
The inaugural league for these teams will be the Challengers league, which will be divided in half. Each of the 21 Challengers leagues will have two splits consisting of multiple weeks of regular season play. Only the best Challengers teams will advance to the next round, Ascension.
“This year more than twenty Challenger Leagues provided organized competitions that helped develop the next generation of VALORANT talent. A robust Challenger ecosystem is imperative to ensuring the most talented teams and pros in esports select VALORANT as the game where they dedicate their time and effort. Ascension represents the culmination of our first ever Challengers Season and we think this tournament series has the potential to become one of the most exciting events on our calendar. We’re excited to share these details with all of you and we’ll be listening closely to hear your thoughts on the tournament,” stated Anton Ferraro, global communications lead for VALORANT Esports.
There will be three different regions in Challengers Ascension: the Americas, Europe, and the Pacific. One team from each of those areas will advance to play in the international league for their country when the Challengers Ascension competition concludes.
The worldwide league is expected to gradually add teams beginning in 2024. There will be a total of 42 teams in the international league by the year 2027. As of the year 2026, we’ll be promoting two clubs annually instead of one to the top international leagues.
That means that until the year 2026, one domestic team will be promoted to the top level of competition abroad every year. Starting in 2027, the league will add two teams every year until it reaches its maximum of 14 teams.
