It is known that Riot Games wants to completely reorganize the Valorant League system for 2023. Currently, the application phase is underway.

The game developer is collecting potential partners for the 2023 leagues in the first round. According to our experience, almost all of the major eSports clans want to join the newer, more attractive Valorant game.

Valorant partnership system replaces Champions Tour

This year, Riot Games will still let the well-known Valorant Champions Tour be played. It will be the last edition of the competition. In 2023 there will be a partnership system. The league structure of Riot Games will then be comparable to the US professional sports leagues, which run as a franchise.

Three independent leagues planned

The plan is to play in three independent leagues: in Europe, in Asia, and in South and North America. The majority of the matches will take place offline. In the Americas, for example, it is planned that the events will be held in the USA. For the teams from South America, a permanent move of the Valorant line-ups to North America is then probably necessary.

The top clans from all three seasons will qualify for the Valorant Masters and Champions Grand tournaments at regular intervals. The intercontinental encounters should then become the real highlights of the Valorant scene from 2023 onwards.

The partner teams of Riot Games will not only play, but also participate in the further development of the game in the so-called “in-cosmetics”. In this way, new sources of income should be generated for the organizations. It is not yet clear how many eSports teams will play in the respective basic leagues in Europe, Asia and America. The game manufacturer's statements are not really clear at this point.

Riot Games will increase the fixed salaries of the players

What is clear, however, is that Riot Games will provide the eSports clans with new funds that will be used to successively increase the players' salaries. In the first considerations, it was planned that the professionals in the Valorant teams would earn at least $50,000 per year. According to our information, however, this amount will probably not be enough.

It can be assumed that the amount will even increase to a six-figure guaranteed sum. Already today, some tier-one clans pay their players between $10,000 and $20,000 a month.

The game maker says it will take between four and six weeks in the initial application phase to pre-select teams. In the application documents, the eSports clans were asked to submit a financial concept, among other things, which also included player salaries. In addition, information was requested on the content and marketing measures, among other things.

A final decision on the participating teams will not be made in these weeks. The selected clans will only move into a second application phase, which will take place in September and October.

Changes in the line-up and criticism

The partnership system of Riot Games has not remained without criticism in the Valorant scene. There already in recent weeks some teams that have dropped out of the Champions Tour, for lack of perspective. Access to the main events will be possible for the clans only through the partner leagues, that many smaller organizations simply remain outside.

After the nomination of the partner clans there will probably be huge changes in the line-ups of the organizations in autumn. Many talented players from the smaller teams will try to find their place in a professional squad. Of course, the partner organizations will then be in a comfortable starting position.