Riot Games announced Tuesday a number of changes coming to the Valorant Esports ecosystem in EMEA that will affect Challengers, Game Changers, and Premier in the region, or as Riot refers to it in its announcement, what the “Path to Pro to look like in EMEA in 2025.”
In particular, a new tournament will now end each Stage, known as Challengers EMEA. This tournament will see the top two teams from each Challengers League compete against each other for Championship Points, the new system that will decide who makes Ascension – the tournament that decides which team will compete in VCT the following year. Additionally, from 2025 Italy and Portugal will be joining Challengers Spain.
In 2025, Valorant Challengers in EMEA will introduce a new Three-Stage structure, with each Stage split into two parts. Each Stage will see teams start out competing in regular league play, (specific formats for each league are “to be determined at a later date,” according to Riot). The top two teams from each Challengers League from that Stage will progress to an all-new tournament called Challengers EMEA, with the best teams from the region competing against each other at the end of each Stage. Riot adds that the MENA region will only compete in the Challengers EMEA tournament during Stage 3, with their teams competing in a Playoff tournament during Stage 1 and Stage 2.
The goal will be to continue the grind towards Valorant Ascension, with the goal of punching a ticket to VCT EMEA. In 2025 Riot will move to a points-based system to decide which teams will compete in Ascension—with teams gaining points based on their performance throughout the season. More information about Championship Points and Ascension will be revealed later in the year.
Riot also announced that Italy and Portugal will become part of Challengers Spain: Rising. In 2025 Challengers Spain will not consider any players from Italy or Portugal as imports. Riot says that this change will “allow each Challengers League in EMEA to match its respective Premier Zone, resulting in a better connection throughout the whole ecosystem.” Challengers Spain will have eight teams in 2025, with spots in the league awarded to the top four teams in Challengers Spain: Rising (based on total league points in 2024), the top team from Challengers Italy: Rinascimento (Ascension 1st Seed), the top team from Challengers Portugal: Tempest (Ascension 1st Seed), one Wildcard spot, and the winner of a Qualifying Tournament.
The new Wildcard spot will be awarded to a team that meets certain criteria, such as the “stability of the team, their impact on the ecosystem, and more.”
The Qualifying Tournament will be open to all remaining teams across the three current leagues to earn the final place in the tournament. Further details about the Qualification Tournament will be shared in the coming weeks.
Premier will continue to act as the “preferred Path to Pro within the EMEA region,” and VRCs will continue to enable teams to qualify for promotion/relegation tournaments in 2025. Teams will also be able to compete in both Premier and VRC throughout the year.
Riot will also add a new “Express Lane Mechanic,” which will enable Game Changers teams to compete in Challengers League Open Qualifiers without having to miss out on overlapping Game Changers events.