Following our recent announcement that outlined a number of big ecosystem changes for Challengers across the world, we wanted to put a spotlight on Asia Pacific and explain how these changes will affect our regional leagues. Read on to learn more about it.
Introducing VCT Challengers Southeast Asia
One of the big changes we’ve announced is matching our Challengers leagues to their respective Premier Zones. For APAC, this involves bringing our Southeast Asian markets together into one league. Affected markets include Indonesia, Malaysia/Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan/Hong Kong. So in total the APAC region will have 5 Challengers leagues starting later this year.
Before Premier launched, we structured our Challengers across 6 separate leagues in Southeast Asia. Our goal was to foster sustainable, thriving VALORANT esports ecosystems in each of our markets.
While we have made progress towards that goal, we realized that to launch the APAC competitive scene into its next stage of growth, we needed to make changes to our structure.
Starting from September 2024, we will consolidate our efforts on one regional league, VCT Challengers Southeast Asia (SEA).
Our hope is that by narrowing our focus and operating more efficiently, we can improve the overall quality of the tournament for teams and fans across the region.
For teams currently competing in affected markets, qualification to Challengers SEA will be based on results from Split 2 of this year. Winning teams will be seeded into the Challengers SEA format alongside top Premier teams. Top ranking teams have a chance for direct slots, while remaining Challengers Split 2 participants will be placed into the Invite tier of Premier to fight for a second chance at qualifying.
Growth Opportunities for the Community
We hope VCT Challengers Southeast Asia will bring positive change for everyone in our community.
For pro-teams, Challengers SEA will provide a more premium platform designed around international matchups. We are excited to see how the level of competition will change as teams start to test their skills beyond their usual domestic pools.
With the integration of Premier, we can now also forge a more transparent path-to-pro through VALORANT directly, providing a chance for new players and teams to break into the VCT ecosystem. Teams who succeed at Challengers SEA will not only be recognised as the best in their market, but will also be the best in the Southeast Asian region as a whole.
By raising the stakes in this way, we are confident Challengers SEA will be an even more entertaining tournament to watch and engage with. Fans can expect exciting international matchups and more compelling broadcast value.
For our partners, a unified Southeast Asian league represents a more meaningful, stable product to work with in the long-term.
Extending our VCT Challengers Calendar in APAC
As part of our push for sustainability, we will also be extending the Challengers calendar to 3 splits this year. We’ve heard our community and recognise the need for an evergreen format that gives teams and players more stability and time to compete and hone their skills.
This year, we will launch our final split after Ascension. This is also when we will formally integrate Premier teams into our Challengers leagues across APAC.
VCT Challengers Split 3 2024 APAC Overview
Split 3 formats in APAC will be revealed by our partners in those regions, so stay tuned for their announcements soon. For now, we’ll share a few high level details about each league, including how teams in Southeast Asia can qualify for the first ever split of VCT Challengers Southeast Asia.
Teams who play in this split will be competing for qualification to Split 1 of Challengers next year.
Challengers Southeast Asia
Dates*: October – December 2024
Total Teams: 16 total
- 12 teams from Challengers Southeast Asia leagues (Indonesia, Malaysia/Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan/Hong Kong)
- The top 2 teams from each Southeast Asian league currently active for Summer Split will qualify for Split 3.
- 4 teams from Premier Episode 9
- 1 team from Act 1
- 3 teams from Act 2
Challengers Japan
Dates*: October – December 2024
Total Teams: 16 total
- 4 teams from Challengers Japan Split 2
- 12 teams from Premier
- 4 teams from Episode 8 Act 3
- 4 teams from Episode 9 Act 1
- 4 teams from Episode 9 Act 2
Challengers South Korea
Dates*: October – November, 2024
Total Teams: 16 total
- 8 teams from Challengers South Korea Split 2
- 8 teams from Premier Episode 9
- 4 teams from Act 1
- 4 teams from Act 2
Challengers South Asia
Dates*: September – October, 2024
Total Teams: 14 total
- 8 teams from Challengers South Asia Split 2
- 2 teams from Premier Episode 9
- 1 from Act 1
- 1 from Act 2
- 4 teams from Open Qualifier
Challengers Oceania
Dates*: October – November 2024
Total Teams: 16 total
- 8 teams from Challengers Oceania Split 2
- 8 teams from Premier Episode 9
- 4 from Act 1
- 4 from Act 2
*Dates are subject to change. Please check official Challengers league announcements from our regional partners for the latest information.