We have globally announced that players will now be able to qualify for Challengers by participating in Premier, our new in-game competitive tournament system. Here is a deep dive on the Challengers eligibility requirements and how to qualify into Stage 1 of APAC Challengers 2024 for anyone that wishes to assemble a team!

First, your team must meet all the Premier eligibility requirements (see Premier Launch FAQ) to play through our in-game competitive system. Your team must also meet all the Challengers eligibility requirements outlined below to go beyond Premier and play in Challengers to climb the path-to-pro.

• Rank
  • As previously announced, all players on your team must be Immortal 3 or higher by the time Episode 8 Act 1 starts on January 10, 2024. This will place your team in the Contender Division, the highest division of Premier, which is a prerequisite to signing up for the Open Qualifiers of Stage 1 across all regions.

• Age
  • As previously announced, all players on your team must be 16 years or older to play in Challengers. Players may be 15 years old while competing in the Open Qualifiers or Premier, but must turn 16 years before Day 1 of the regular season of Challengers.
  • The age requirement may be higher depending on the country or region, so please double-check in your regional Challengers announcements. Regional channels are listed further below for reference.
  • Your regional Tournament Operators (“TOs”) may collect age verification documentation from players directly to confirm eligibility when you sign up for the Open Qualifiers.

• Residency
  • Three of five starting players on your team must be residents of the Challengers region. Therefore, you must identify the Challenger League where your team meets the residency requirement and register in the correct Premier Zone that connects into that league. For examples:
    • E.g., a team of 3 Korean + 2 Japanese players may only qualify into Challengers S. Korea, and thus must register in the S. Korea Premier Zone.
    • E.g., a team of 2 Singaporean + 1 Malaysian + 2 Hong Kong players may only qualify into Challengers MY/SG, and thus must register in the Asia Premier Zone
      

• A resident is defined as:
  • A player is considered a “Resident” of a country within a Challengers League Territory if the player is either (i) a citizen of a country in the Challengers League Territory or holds additional citizenship rights (such as those of the EU) for that Challengers League Territory, (ii) a lawful permanent resident, or (iii) the holder of other special status (e.g., refugee or asylum status) in a country in the Challengers League Territory.
  • Please check your Challengers’s definition of “Resident” as there may be slight variations depending on the region.
• The residency requirement will be relaxed for Game Changers Alums, as we want to encourage them to join Challengers League participating teams. A Game Changers Alum who competes in the Challengers Leagues will be deemed to have Residency in a country in the applicable Challengers League Territory, even if that player does not satisfy the requirement. The term “Game Changers Alum” means a player who has competed on the starting roster for a team in an official regional playoff of the VALORANT Game Changers Series.
• Your regional Tournament Operators (“TOs”) may collect residency verification documentation from players directly to confirm eligibility when you sign up for the Open Qualifiers. Each team is responsible for ensuring that its players meet the residency requirement.

Once again, the above rank, age, and residency requirements apply to your team only if you want to qualify for Challengers. Once you have built a Challengers-eligible team, follow these next steps to try out for one of the 10 APAC Challenger Leagues.

1. First, register your Contender-eligible team in the Premier Zone that connects into your target Challenger League between January 8-17, 2024.
2. Second, register your Contender Division team in the Open Qualifier of your target Challenger League. Please be on the lookout for more instructions on the Regional Channels on how to register for each League:
   1. Challengers Japan: https://twitter.com/valesportscl_jp
   2. Challengers South Korea: https://valorantesports.com/news
   3. Challengers South Asia: www.instagram.com/nodwingaming, www.instagram.com/nodwingamingsouthasia
   4. Challengers MY/SG: https://twitter.com/valesports_mysg
   5. Challengers Indonesia: https://www.instagram.com/valesportsid, https://www.youtube.com/@VALORANTEsportsIndonesia
   6. Challengers Thailand: https://www.facebook.com/fpsthailand
   7. Challengers Vietnam: https://www.facebook.com/ValorantEsportsVietnam, https://www.youtube.com/@VALORANTChampionsTourVietnam
   8. Challengers Philippines: https://www.facebook.com/valorantesportsPH, https://www.youtube.com/@VALORANTEsportsPH
   9. Challengers HK/TW: https://www.facebook.com/valorantesportsZH, https://www.youtube.com/@VALORANTEsportsTW
   10. Challengers Oceania: https://gg.letsplay.live/home
3. Third, compete in the Open Qualifier in January for promotion into Stage 1 of your target Challenger League. As previously announced, if you fail to qualify into Stage 1 during the Open Qualifiers, your team will be able to continue your journey in the Premier Contender Division to claim the next chance to qualify into Stage 2.

Please stay tuned for more information (e.g., schedule, Open Qualifier sign-up link) on each of our 10 APAC Leagues on the respective Regional Channels. In the meantime, start assembling your best team of 5+ eligible players right now!