Overview of VALORANT APAC Challengers League Changes for 2025
VALORANT Challengers serves as the second tier of competition within the VALORANT Esports ecosystem, offering aspiring teams a platform for potential success. The upcoming 2025 season will see significant shifts in tournament structure, especially within the APAC (Asia-Pacific) region. This update will explore the fresh layout of the VALORANT APAC Challengers League and the new addition of VCT Academy teams. Read on to find out more.
What’s Changing in the 2025 VALORANT APAC Challengers League?
In 2024, the VCT Ascension Pacific included the top teams from ten regional APAC Challengers leagues, with each league’s champion competing for advancement. Sin Para Gaming emerged victorious over Boom Esports, securing a spot in the VCT 2025. Following this event, Riot Games announced structural changes to the VALORANT Challengers leagues across APAC, particularly with the introduction of Academy teams.
Riot Games confirmed that starting in 2025, teams participating in VCT Pacific can establish an Academy roster within their regional Challengers League. This addition will allow these organisations to develop a secondary team that can compete at a high level, providing opportunities for up-and-coming players. However, to maintain competitive fairness, Academy teams will not be eligible to secure promotion to the main VCT roster if they win within their region.
Below is a list of VCT Pacific teams set to field Academy teams in their respective APAC Challengers leagues for 2025:
- Challengers Korea: DRX, Gen.G, T1
- Challengers Japan: Zeta Division, DFM
- Challengers Southeast Asia: RRQ, Talon, Team Secret
- Challengers South Asia: Global Esports
These nine partnered teams, having committed to forming Academy squads, will automatically receive slots in their regional Challengers League for the 2025 season.
An Updated Seasonal Format for the Challengers Leagues
In 2024, each VALORANT Challengers league operated with two seasonal splits. Top teams from the second split moved forward to compete in the VCT Ascension Pacific. However, the 2025 season introduces a three-split format, adding more competition throughout the year. This expanded calendar allows players more opportunities to compete without the extended downtime that has previously characterised the offseason.
Upon the conclusion of the third split, VCT Ascension 2025 is slated to take place in October, offering a competitive climax to the season. Following Ascension, four additional VALORANT Challengers tournaments will run parallel to the offseason events. This approach not only creates more frequent tournament opportunities for players but also adds continuous excitement to the VALORANT calendar throughout the year.
The revamped VALORANT APAC Challengers League promises an exciting, more dynamic structure, with enhanced chances for talent development and intensified competition for the 2025 season.
