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After several days of anticipation, Riot Games via Twitter last Friday announced the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Stage 2 Masters and Valorant Champions venues.
The forthcoming Stage 2 Masters event of the Valorant Champions Tour will be held in Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital, from July 10-24, 2022, while the end-of-year finale will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in September 2022. Qualified teams will journey to these locations to compete for the prize money and the ultimate bragging right as Valorant Champions.
VCT Masters 2 will bring together 12 teams from around the globe to battle for the prize money and a spot in the season finale. Riot’s upcoming Valorant Champions event in Istanbul will feature 16 teams, 10 of which will qualify through the regular season. The remaining six teams will be selected via the Last Chance Qualifiers in August. VCT Stage 2 has already begun in all regions, with the major events beginning on May 13.
Furthermore, fans will be able to watch the live games at the arena during these events. Fans will be present in the arena for the very first time in Valorant’s history to cheer on their favorite teams. These two events will undoubtedly be eagerly anticipated by Valorant fans all throughout the world.
Riot Games has stated explicitly that one of its sole objectives is to organize international events where fans from all around the world can watch live, making sure that teams can participate from everywhere in the globe at the scheduled venue without any hindrance.
“Our goal is to see our biggest international events played in front of a live audience and both of these cities provided clear pathways towards this goal, while also providing the best possible guarantee that all qualified teams will be able to safely attend and compete. We’re excited to share the initial details of these two events and will be providing more information in the coming weeks,” the company said in a statement.
The declaration of the venues has put an end to speculation about the final two foreign tournaments on the Valorant Champions Tour for the 2022 season. The VCT Stage 1 Masters, the year’s first international event, was held in Reykjavik, Iceland, and recorded a viewership milestone of over one million. In 2021, the Masters and Champions of Stage 2 were held in Berlin, Germany.
However, over years, Copenhagen has hosted a number of esports tournaments. Copenhagen, with its substantial esports infrastructure, is an ideal location for a VCT event. Istanbul does not have as much level of international esports event hosting experience.
Riot Games has also revealed that VCT will be completely restructured for next season. Valorant will broaden its existing Challengers systems and Game Changers as well as add new foreign competitions. Partner teams will be added to Valorant’s leagues, although Riot did not provide many details on that front.
