© 2026 Riot Games. All Rights Reserved.
© 2026 Riot Games. All Rights Reserved.
The VALORANT Esports EMEA 2025 season is just around the corner! Before the action kicks off, we’re excited to share some key updates to the competitive calendar. These changes are designed to bring fans more opportunities to see their favorite teams go head-to-head in even more thrilling, high-stakes matchups across every level of competition.
Keep reading to find out what’s new for 2025!
We’ve made some exciting changes to our VCT International Leagues, including in EMEA! If you missed the full breakdown, you can catch up here. In the meantime, here’s a quick overview of what’s coming:
The VCT EMEA season begins with KICK//OFF on January 15.
12 teams will now compete in the league, with Ascension winners Apeks joining the lineup.
KICK//OFF will feature a 12-team double-elimination bracket format.
The Championship Points system has been revamped to ensure every stage of the season feels high-stakes.
Stage 1 & 2 Playoffs will expand to eight teams.
Excited to see how the matchups for KICK//OFF will shake out? Take a look at the draw below!
Similarly to last year, VCT EMEA games will predominantly be played weekly on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday - watchable through Twitch and YouTube. However, to make our hype moments even more hype, we will see changes to the schedule for some of the bigger moments in the season! All Playoff games in 2025 will take place across the weekend (Friday-Sunday), with Grand Finals always taking place on a Sunday.
Stay tuned to our socials and here on the VALORANT Esports website to catch any further updates to the schedule.
Earlier this year, we announced exciting changes to the VALORANT Challengers ecosystem in EMEA, including a shift to a three-stage format and the introduction of a new event: Challengers EMEA. Now, we’re here to dive deeper into what’s in store for the Challengers circuit in 2025!
The 2025 journey begins in January with the regional Challengers Leagues, leading into three thrilling EMEA-wide tournaments. These tournaments will take place throughout the year, kicking off in early March, followed by the second in late May, and wrapping up with the final tournament in late June.
Here’s the full schedule:
Challengers EMEA 1: March 3 - 9
Challengers EMEA 2: May 19 - 25
Challengers EMEA 3: September 1 - 9
When it comes to individual Challengers League formats across EMEA, we’re excited to announce that tournament organizers (TOs) will have greater flexibility to design their own split formats. This approach empowers TOs to create formats that resonate locally, offering fans unique experiences across the region. As a result, you can expect a diverse range of formats across the EMEA Challengers Leagues throughout the year. TOs will be sharing more details about their formats in the coming weeks - stay tuned!
Today, however, we’re thrilled to unveil the format for our new event: Challengers EMEA.
During Stages 1 and 2, Challengers EMEA will deliver a week of intense gameplay, featuring two teams each from the DACH, French, Spanish, and Turkish leagues, along with four teams from the newly merged NORTH//EAST region. A total of 12 teams will compete in a BO3 round-robin format across four groups. After three action-packed days (with four matches per day), the top team from each group will advance to the Playoffs, which will feature a double-elimination bracket.
Stage 3, however, raises the stakes. Running over two weeks, this stage brings together 14 teams from all Challengers Leagues, including MENA. These teams will be split into four groups - two groups of three and two groups of four, with MENA teams placed in the groups of four - and will compete in a BO3 round-robin format. Like Stage 1 and Stage 2, the top team from each group will move on to a four-day Playoffs phase, culminating in a double-elimination bracket where all roads lead to an epic Grand Final.
With the introduction of the Challengers EMEA, 2025’s Championship Points system will look slightly different in EMEA. Playoffs happening in individual leagues will give a small amount of points, whilst Challengers EMEA will reward teams a larger amount, with this ramping up between each Stage.
Points for Challengers Leagues Playoffs in EMEA (with some exceptions) are as follows:
While we’re not quite ready to reveal the format for Ascension yet, what we can confirm is that the entire tournament will be on LAN, using a double-elimination bracket.
We can also confirm that the winner of the final Challengers EMEA in Stage 3 will receive a direct invitation to Ascension, with the rest of the teams decided by their overall Championship Points.
Further details about Ascension EMEA and its new format will be revealed in 2025.
We’re excited to continue providing more opportunities for women across EMEA to compete in Game Changers events.
Next year, the format for Game Changers in EMEA will largely stay the same, with three stages played across the year. However, we are making one change to the regular season, which will see teams compete in one, large group, rather than splitting the teams into two groups. By putting the ten competing teams into one larger group, fans will be able to enjoy watching more competitive gametime, and our players will be able to play a higher number of matches, helping them further hone their skills and compete.
This all means there will now be 45 Group Stage games per Stage, an increase from the 20 games per Stage seen in 2024. Each Stage will see a single Round Robin with BO3 matches, with each team playing a total of nine matches per group stage.
Premier and the VALORANT Regional Circuit will continue to serve as a vital developmental proving ground and entry point for players on their path to pro. In 2025 we will support the best amateur teams by giving them their own tournament, bringing VALORANT competitions closer to our players across the region. More information on this will be shared nearer the time.
To stay up to date with the latest VALORANT Esports EMEA news and all the action outside of the games, be sure to follow us across our social media accounts!
