Riot Games, in a recent live stream for VCT Pacific Kickoff, revealed that this year’s VCT Masters will take place in Seoul, South Korea. With this, Seoul will be the third Asian country to host a Major Valorant tournament.
This will also be the first time South Korea will host a Major international Valorant tournament. South Korea only hosted league matches for the VCT Pacific league in Seoul last year.
Increasing popularity of Valorant in Asia
This comes after last year’s popularity of Valorant in Asia. The Valorant Challengers Japan was one of the most-watched events worldwide. Since last year, Riot Games have been focusing on the Asian region. Apart from the champions, the second Masters tournament will also take place in Asia.
2024 also saw the VCT China league after the release of Valorant in China. Other countries like Japan and India are also showing increasing interest in Valorant. Riot Games even partnered with Indian esports organizations to promote Valorant across multiple cities.
A long journey ahead
The stage is already set for teams competing across various regions in the International League Kickoff. The league matches will run through February 16 to March 3.
From there, the teams will compete across multiple events, including Masters Madrid from March 14 to March 24. The top three teams from Masters will compete in the International League Stage 1 from April 3 to May 12.
Following that, Masters Shanghai will commence on May 23 leading to the second International League Stage from June 15. Surviving teams will then compete in the Championship in Seoul starting August 1.
A total of 16 teams will qualify for the Valorant Champions. These will include four teams from each region Americas, China, EMEA and Pacific.
