VALORANT Challengers is the second-tier competition of VALORANT Esports. Recently, within the APAC region of VCT, the tournament structure for the upcoming 2025 season has changed. This article will examine the new structure of the VALORANT APAC Challengers League and the introduction of VCT Academy teams.
What Are The Upcoming Changes to the VALORANT APAC Challengers League?
Image Credits; Riot Games
During the 2024 season of the VCT Ascension Pacific, the top team from each of the ten regional APAC Challengers leagues participated in the tournament. During that event, Sin Para Gaming defeated Boom Esports to secure a spot for VCT 2025. Following that tournament, Riot Games mentioned some upcoming changes to the structure of the VALORANT Challengers Leagues within APAC.
In a press release, Riot Games announced that the first significant change to the VALORANT APAC Challengers 2025 is the addition of academy teams. Each organization from VCT Pacific is allowed to field an academy in their region’s Challengers League. This will enable teams to have an academy roster that they can nurture by making them play in the most competitive leagues in VALORANT.
One must note that if a team does field an academy team, it cannot qualify for VCT Ascension within their region. Here is Riot Game’s statement on the introduction of academy teams:
This change will allow our partnered teams to scout, test and develop new talent for their teams. At the same time, this also gives up-and-coming stars more opportunities to join the ranks of partnered organizations.
Below is a list of all the VCT Pacific Teams that will be fielding an academy team in the 2025 VALORANT APAC Challengers:
Challengers Korea – DRX, Gen.G, T1
Challengers Japan – Zeta Division, DFM
Challengers Southeast Asia – RRQ, Talon, Team Secret
Challengers South Asia – Global Esports
It must be noted that the nine partnered teams who have opted to field an academy team will receive a direct slot in their respective Challengers league in 2025.
What does the new calendar look like?
Image Credits: Riot Games
During the 2024 season, each VALORANT Challengers league consisted of 2 splits. The best team from the second split would qualify for the VCT Asension Pacific. In the 2025 season, there will be three splits of the VALORANT Challengers League.
Following the completion of the third split, VCT Ascension 2025 will take place in October. This will allow teams to take part in more matches throughout the year. This will be a boost for most players as, in the past, they needed to wait for months before playing tournaments. This has resulted in a significant off-season.
It must be stated that following the completion of VCT Ascension Pacific 2025, there will be a split of 4 VALORANT Challengers. These tournaments will take place parallel to the off-season tournaments.