VALORANT Game Changers NA 2023 set to commence in April

The VALORANT Game Changers scene has witnessed rapid growth since launch with more participating players as well as a larger audience tuning into tournament streams than ever before. To foster this growth further, Riot hosted a Game Changers Championship LAN in Berlin from November 15 through November 20 of 2022.

The Grand Finals face-off at the event amassed a whopping 239.3K Peak Viewers becoming the most watched female esports event. VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) Game Changers for the NA region is set to commence in April for the 2023 season with Riot releasing more details regarding the format and structure of the series through their blog.

VCT Game Changers 2023 Format:

VCT Game Changers 2023 will feature three regular season tournaments, each of which will be preceded by an Open Qualifiers. These qualifiers will be played in a GSL group format with only the top eight teams earning a spot at the Main Event. In contrast to the Open Qualifiers, the main event will follow a conventional Double Elimination bracket format with all matches being a best-of-three except the finals, which will be decided with a best-of-five matchup. There will be a shared prize pool of $50,000 for each event as well as circuit points being counted towards a potential Game Changers Championship qualification.

Points:

The top 16 teams in each Game Changer Series will receive points for their placement at the event as follows:

• 1st Place: 80 points
• 2nd Place: 60 points
• 3rd Place: 50 points
• 4th Place: 40 points
• 5th - 6th Place: 30 points
• 7th - 8th Place: 20 points
• 9th - 16th Place: 10 points

Schedule:

Here is the list of events scheduled to take place for NA Game Changers throughout the year.

Series 1

• OPEN QUALIFIER: April 4 - 6
• MAIN EVENT: April 7, April 11 – 14

Series 2

• OPEN QUALIFIER: July 13 - 16
• MAIN EVENT: July 26 – 30

Series 3

• OPEN QUALIFIER: September 28 - October 1
• MAIN EVENT: October 4 – 8

Based on player feedback, the 2023 Game Changers rank criteria was increased from Platinum to Ascendant. Players and teams looking to register for the Open Qualifiers can apply here before March 21. Apart from the regular season events, Riot plans to continue their efforts to encourage more GC players to transition into professional esports through the Game Changers Academy. However, the GC Academy has merged with the Knight’s Sakura Cup, previously held individually under the same name. These tournaments are held on a bi-monthly basis with a prize pool upwards of $10,000.