What Is VALORANT Champions And How Does It Work?
VALORANT Champions is an annual tournament run by makers Riot Games. It is the culmination of the VALORANT Masters competitive season and sees 16 teams, from four regions, competing for the title of World Champions.
The event is held annually, typically in late summer or early autumn, and a different host city is chosen each year. Riot offers a base prize pool of $2.25m, with the winner taking $1m, although teams take substantially more than this due to a 50% profit share on in-game skin sales.
When Did Champions Start?
VALORANT launched in 2020 and soon became a gaming and competitive esports hit. Riot launched competitive tournaments on the game’s official release, and gave us the first VALORANT Champions Tour in 2021.
The first Champions tournament was held in Berlin, Germany, in December 2021. The inaugural competition was won by Austrian team Acend. Since then, the tier-1 tournament has been won by LOUD (2022), Evil Geniuses (2023), EDward Gaming (2024), and NRG (2025).
How Much Is VALORANT Champions Prize Money?
The first tournament, held in Berlin in 2021, had a prize pool of $1m, with the 2022 tournament in Istanbul offering the same prize pot. Since 2023, the tournament has offered an even more generous $2.25m pool. The winner takes $1m, which means it offers more than the EWC’s bonanza prize pot.
Teams are also given a 50% split of revenue from in-game skin sales, with this money typically working out to be more lucrative than the prize pot itself. More than $100m was handed out to participating teams in 2025.
How Popular Is VALORANT Champions?
The VALORANT Champions Tour, which includes the Champions tournament and VALORANT Masters tournaments, is the most popular competitive VALORANT event, by viewership.
According to the Esports Charts website, Champions 2025 saw a peak of 1.47m viewers, making it the third highest peak viewership figure. VCT 2024: Masters Madrid tops the charts, with 1.69m peak, ahead of the VALORANT Champions 2022 final, with a peak of 1.5m.
How Do Teams Qualify For The Event?
The VALORANT Champions Tour is divided into four regions – China, Pacific, EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), and Americas. Four teams qualify from each region. The winner and runner-up of the VCT regional playoffs qualify directly. Two more teams from each region qualify by amassing the most Championship Points.
Where Is Champions Held?
The tournament is held every year with Riot selecting a different host city every edition. In 2026, the tournament is headed to China for the first time and will be hosted in Shanghai. Previous finals have been held in Paris (2025), Seoul (2024), Los Angeles (2023), Istanbul (2022), and Berlin (2021).
