Riot to implement a Valorant partnership system from 2023 in North America (NA) and South America (BR & LATAM)

Valorant esports may experience some significant changes next year. Riot is considering introducing a partnership system from 2023. The proposed system may be introduced in the North America (NA) and South America (BR & LATAM) region. However, EMEA and APAC regions will follow the same structure of the current year in 2023 as well.

According to reports from North America, Riot has already hosted a meeting on Monday, May 23, inviting team owners and managers to discuss the proposed system. Several top-tier teams and their management were rumored to be present at the meeting.

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Will it affect the Valorant eco-system in the North America (NA) and South America (BR & LATAM) region?

Ever since the release of the game in 2020, Riot has always tried to build an active professional scene around it. The publishers have already been able to do so over the last two years.

Riot has already hosted four international LAN events in two different venues since 2021. The upcoming VCT Stage 2 Masters Copenhagen will be the first international LAN event in the history of the game with a live audience. The tournament will be hosted this July where top 12 teams from around the globe will compete to be the best in the world.

The best performing teams from the respective regional Challengers will be a part of the upcoming Masters. However, to qualify for the regional Challengers, teams have to perform in Qualifiers or receive a direct invite based on their performances in the previous tournament.

However, Riot is planning to change the system in North America and South America next year. As per the sources, the organizers have decided to implement a Valorant partnership system from 2023 where 9-10 teams will be directly invited to the league next year.

The system will only be implemented in the North American, Brazilian, and Latin American leagues. Teams can apply to be partners with Riot in Valorant for the next few months.

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How it can affect the eco-system?

Riot has already implemented this system for its other popular title, League of Legends. Both LEC and LCS have 10 spots available for teams to qualify for the League World Championship (biggest event in League of Legends) from those events.

For Valorant, it will be the qualifying event for international tournaments such as the Masters and Champions.

However, teams will have to spend a six-figure stipend to join the program. It will hardly be anything for big organizations as they pay higher to players and staff. But for smaller organizations, this can be a major issue as it will add some more financial burden.

This can also hinder the eco-system as new players and new teams will go through tougher pathways to participate in the Riot's event. This can be an alarming sign for the competitive scenario of the game.

However, Riot is yet to confirm anything regarding the implementation of the Valorant partnership system. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for the competitive scenario of the game.