Riot Names 32 VCT Partners as Americas Kickoff Qualifiers Open

Riot Games announced its 32 partner teams for the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) in 2027 and 2028 on Thursday, October 22, 2026, in a post on the official VALORANT Esports site. A week earlier, on October 15, Riot published the schedule for the North America qualifiers that decide which teams without a partner spot can still reach the season-opening Kickoff event. Together, the two announcements show who is guaranteed a place at the start of the new season and how everyone else gets in.

Figures come from Riot's partner-team announcement of October 22 and its North America qualifier post of October 15.

How Riot chose the 32 partners

According to Riot, more than 100 teams from around the world showed interest in becoming a partner. The process began earlier in 2026, when organizations shared proposals describing what they could bring to the VCT and to the wider VALORANT community. A smaller group of finalists was then interviewed by Riot's global and regional esports leads. Riot's post does not give exact numbers for how many proposals were sent or how many finalists were interviewed.

Strafe, which covered the announcement the same day, reports the same outline: proposals first, a shortlist, then interviews with the final few organizations. It also reports that 32 teams were named, eight in each of four regions.

Those regions are the Americas, EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa), the Pacific, and China. Riot says each of them has eight partner teams. A partner team is an organization that Riot has chosen for a fixed term and that receives certain guarantees in return for contributing to the league. Riot says the partnership operates on two-year renewable cycles, and Strafe reports that the new partnerships cover the 2027 and 2028 seasons.

The five criteria

Riot lists five criteria that guided the selection. In Riot's wording, they are:

• Commitment to Grow the VALORANT Community
• Community Resonance across Fandom and Content
• Business Sustainability and Responsible Operations
• Operational Excellence and Established Infrastructure
• Competitive Success and Performance Development

Riot's post names the criteria but does not describe each one in detail or say how they were weighted. It does say the team placed particular emphasis on organizations that could help build fandom and community resonance for years to come.

Riot describes the program as designed to reward organizations for their contributions both on and off the server. Riot adds that competitive success is always earned on the server.

Who the partners are and what they receive

Riot's own page shows the partner names as an image. Esports Charts, on October 22, lists eight organizations per region, and Strafe's list of 32 names matches it.

In the Americas, the eight are 100 Thieves, G2 Esports, KRÜ Esports, Leviatán, LOUD, MIBR, NRG and Sentinels. In EMEA, they are BBL Esports, Fnatic, FUT Esports, Gentle Mates, Karmine Corp, Team Heretics, Team Liquid and Team Vitality. In China, the lists show All Gamers, Bilibili Gaming, EDward Gaming, JD Gaming, Trace Esports, TYLOO, Weibo Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming. In the Pacific, they are Crazy Raccoon, FULL SENSE, GAM Esports, Gen.G, Paper Rex, Rex Regum Qeon, T1 and ZETA DIVISION.

Riot lists four benefits for partner teams:

• Annual financial support.
• A chance to earn additional revenue from in-game digital goods, including Team and Season Capsules and the Championship bundle.
• Incentives tied to contributions to growing VALORANT Esports.
• Direct qualification to VCT Kickoff at the start of the 2027 season.

Strafe adds that partners are seeded directly into later rounds of open qualifiers, and describes the financial support as guaranteed base payments together with extra payments tied to performance.

The most important line for competition is the last one. A partner receives direct qualification to Kickoff. After Kickoff, Riot says, partners compete alongside and against teams that came through Open Qualifiers, and competitive performance is the only way to earn a place at the Cups, Masters and Champions events. Riot's global schedule post lists Cups, Masters and Champions among the tournaments of the 2027 season, which it calls a tournament-first season that replaces long stretches of league play.

The same point appeared in Riot's earlier format announcement. In a post dated June 18, 2026, Riot said partner teams get direct entry to Kickoff but are not automatically qualified for every Cup and must keep earning their place.

North America's road to Kickoff

Riot's October 15 post sets out the North America calendar. The qualifiers also serve as the North America qualifiers for the Red Bull Home Ground World Final. Riot says they are produced in collaboration with Red Bull.

In a single-elimination best-of-three, a team plays up to three maps against an opponent, the first to win two maps takes the match, and a lost match ends the run. Riot says at least four teams advance from each of the two qualifiers.

Registration is open now for the first one. Riot says sign-ups for Qualifier #1 run from October 19 at 12:00 p.m. Pacific time to October 30 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. Registration for Qualifier #2 runs from October 26 at 12:00 p.m. Pacific to November 8 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific. Riot's post gives a Battlefy link for sign-ups.

The playoffs and the last chance

The Qualifiers Playoffs bring together 16 teams. They come from the two qualifiers and from invitations. Riot says the invited teams are chosen by considering VCT Americas teams from 2026, excluding those given partner status, and it also names top Challenger and Game Changers teams.

The playoffs begin with a Swiss stage from November 20 to 22. In a Swiss stage, teams are matched against opponents with a similar record rather than being knocked out after one loss. Here, a team needs two wins to move on. Eight teams then enter a double-elimination bracket from December 1 to 6, spread over six competition days. In double elimination, a team must lose twice before it is out.

The champion becomes North America's representative at VCT Americas Kickoff 2027 and also qualifies for the Red Bull Home Ground World Final. The runner-up qualifies for that World Final too, and gets one more chance at Kickoff through the Americas Last Chance Qualifier, or LCQ.

The LCQ takes place December 17 and 18 in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The second-place teams from North America, Brazil and LATAM compete there for the last open Kickoff slot. Riot's post does not give the LCQ format.

The Red Bull Home Ground World Final runs December 10 to 13 in Los Angeles, California. Riot lists a group stage at WePlay Studios on December 10 and 11 and the final stage at the Shrine Auditorium on December 12 and 13.

Riot says coverage starts at the playoff stage and will be shown on the VALORANT Americas Twitch and YouTube channels.

Who can enter

Riot's post names two requirements for players. They must be at least 17 years old, and they must have reached a peak rank of Ascendant or higher in the previous six months.

Teams that advance to international competition also need up-to-date travel documents and visas. Riot calls this mandatory and says it applies to the best teams that move forward.

The June 18 format post adds one roster rule. In the 2027 system, a team that keeps at least three of its five players keeps its points and progress. That rule comes from Riot's earlier announcement and was not repeated in the qualifier post.

The money and the full picture

The Americas Kickoff will be held in Sao Paulo and has 12 teams: the eight partners, invited directly, and four teams from open qualification. Riot says one slot is guaranteed to each of North America, Brazil and LATAM, and the fourth comes from the Americas LCQ. The qualifier post does not state the Kickoff dates.

The four non-partner teams that reach Kickoff receive a $100,000 stipend, according to Riot.

Riot's June 18 post sets out a wider scale of fixed payments for open teams that perform well: $100,000 for Kickoff or a Cup, $200,000 for Masters and $400,000 for Champions. Open teams can also win prize money.

Riot's global schedule post, also from October 15, says the 2027 tour includes more than 50 tournaments in 15 cities and that Kickoff qualifiers begin in November 2026. It adds that open qualification runs throughout the season, creating multiple opportunities for aspiring teams to enter the VCT.

Partner status in 2027 buys a seat at the first event; every seat after that is won on the server.

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