Kickoff from January 14, Masters Seoul, Masters València and Champions in Austin: the complete 2027 Valorant Champions Tour calendar with all 15 cities – plus a clear explanation of how the new VCT Cups work.
Last updated: October 19, 2026
The VCT 2027 schedule starts with Kickoff from January 14 to February 7, 2027 in São Paulo, Berlin, Bangkok and Hangzhou. Next come Masters Seoul (February 20 – March 3), the first VCT Cup (April 29 – May 23), Masters València (June 5 – 20), the second VCT Cup (August 5 – 29) and, as the finale, Champions 2027 in Austin, Texas (September 16 – October 10) – together with the Game Changers Championship. Riot published the calendar on October 15, 2026: 15 cities, more than 50 tournaments, and the new "Cups" replace the old league stages.
The first match day of VCT 2027 is January 14, 2027. Riot has not published match times yet, so we count the days until that date.
On October 15, 2026 – while Champions 2026 was still running in Shanghai – Riot Games revealed the complete tournament calendar for the 2027 Valorant Champions Tour. For the first time, fans know in autumn exactly when and where every big event of the coming year takes place. The season is split into six big blocks: three regional phases that each run in four cities at the same time, and three international tournaments where the best teams from every region meet. The timeline shows how the season is spread across the year – grey bars are regional phases, orange bars are global events.
| Event | Dates | Location(s) | What is decided there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kickoff | Thu Jan 14 – Sun Feb 7, 2027 | São Paulo, Berlin, Bangkok, Hangzhou | Regional season start; the top 3 of each region go to Masters Seoul |
| Masters Seoul | Sat Feb 20 – Wed Mar 3, 2027 | Seoul, South Korea | First international tournament of the year |
| VCT Cup 1 | Thu Apr 29 – Sun May 23, 2027 | Mexico City, Warsaw, Manila, Wuhan | Regional qualification for Masters València |
| Masters València | Sat Jun 5 – Sun Jun 20, 2027 | València, Spain | Second international tournament |
| VCT Cup 2 | Thu Aug 5 – Sun Aug 29, 2027 | Rio de Janeiro, Istanbul, Tokyo, Shanghai | Regional qualification for Champions |
| Champions 2027 | Thu Sep 16 – Sun Oct 10, 2027 | Austin, Texas, USA | World championship – Game Changers Championship alongside it |
Good to know for planning: the dates above are the official event windows. Detailed schedules with individual match days, start times and venues have not been published yet. Usually these details follow a few weeks before each event – we add them here as soon as they are official.
Riot calls the new season a tour around the world, and the calendar delivers on that. Unlike in previous years, the regional tournaments no longer stay in one fixed league city but move from phase to phase: the Americas play Kickoff in São Paulo, the first Cup in Mexico City and the second in Rio de Janeiro. EMEA travels from Berlin via Warsaw to Istanbul. The Pacific region starts in Bangkok, stops in Manila and ends in Tokyo, while China plays in Hangzhou, Wuhan and Shanghai. On top of that come the three global stages: Seoul, València and Austin. Each card below is one host city; the color shows the region.
For European fans, the EMEA events are the easiest to follow: Berlin (Kickoff) and Warsaw (Cup 1) share the Central European time zone, and so does Masters València. Istanbul (Cup 2) is only one hour ahead of Central European time. Riot has not announced ticket sales for any of the 2027 events yet.
The biggest change of the 2027 season is not the calendar but the format. Until 2026, a VCT season consisted of Kickoff, two long league phases called Stage 1 and Stage 2, and the international tournaments in between. In the stages, the partner teams of a region played each other for weeks in a fixed league. From 2027, Riot replaces these stages with two VCT Cups. A Cup is a regional LAN tournament held in a host city – Cup 1 from late April to late May, Cup 2 in August.
The crucial difference: a spot in a Cup is no longer reserved automatically. Riot explained the principle back in June 2026 under the title "No Guaranteed Paths". Partner teams get a fixed spot in Kickoff, but everything after that has to be earned phase by phase. Teams that finish near the bottom at a Cup or a Masters drop to the open playoffs; teams without previous results or with weak results start again in the Open Qualifiers. In theory, any team that fights its way through the open qualifiers can make it all the way to Champions.
This is what a season looks like now:
Still open are the exact formats of the Cups: Riot has published neither the number of teams per Cup nor the number of slots for Masters València and Champions. As soon as these numbers are official we will add them here – we deliberately do not repeat estimates from forums.
Every qualification chain starts with the Open Qualifiers. They are played online and by region, and according to Riot they begin as early as November 2026. Through these open tournaments, teams without partner status can qualify for Kickoff and for the Cups. Riot stresses that organizations get several chances throughout the year to qualify for events. How many qualifier regions there are exactly and what the brackets look like has not been fully published yet.
In the three international leagues Americas, EMEA and Pacific, each Kickoff features 12 teams: 8 partner teams with a fixed spot and 4 teams from the Open Qualifiers. The top three teams of each region qualify for Masters Seoul. China's field is put together slightly differently: 8 partner teams, 2 visitor teams and 2 teams from the Open Qualifiers. Chinese partner and visitor teams are invited directly to Kickoff and the Cups.
The first VCT Cup in spring leads to Masters València, the second Cup in August leads to Champions in Austin. For partner teams, the direct Kickoff spot is a head start but not a guarantee. A team that performs poorly at a Cup or a Masters drops into the open playoffs and has to fight its way back from there.
In the Pacific region there is also a Last Chance Qualifier through which the best teams from South Asia and Oceania can qualify for Kickoff and the Cups. Riot has also set an important roster rule: a team keeps its points and progress only if it retains at least three of its five players. A completely rebuilt lineup cannot simply take over another team's spot.
Kickoff opens the season in four cities at once: São Paulo for the Americas, Berlin for EMEA, Bangkok for Pacific and Hangzhou for China. The event window covers a good three and a half weeks. For many fans, Kickoff is traditionally the most exciting regional tournament of the year because it is the first time the off-season roster moves are visible. In 2027 there is extra tension: for the first time, four teams from the Open Qualifiers meet the eight partner teams in every region, and only three teams per region travel to Seoul.
The first international tournament of the year takes place in the South Korean capital. Seoul is no stranger to the VCT: the city hosted Champions in 2024 and the Game Changers Championship in 2025. According to Inven Global, Masters Seoul is the first international Valorant tournament in Korea since Champions 2024. Seoul is also the home of the VCT Pacific league. The venue and detailed schedule have not been announced. Because Seoul is eight hours ahead of Central European Time in February, many matches will run in the morning or around midday in Europe.
The first Cup is the new road to the second Masters. It is played in Mexico City (Americas), Warsaw (EMEA), Manila (Pacific) and Wuhan (China). For European fans, Warsaw is convenient: Poland is in the Central European time zone.
The second Masters takes place in Spain – and in València for the first time. Spain already hosted an international Valorant tournament in 2024 with Masters Madrid. For European viewers, València is the most viewer-friendly global event of the year: it runs in Central European Summer Time, so matches fall into normal evening hours.
The second Cup is the last big regional stage and decides the tickets to Champions. The hosts are Rio de Janeiro (Americas), Istanbul (EMEA), Tokyo (Pacific) and Shanghai (China). The scene already knows Shanghai: it hosted Champions 2026, which LOUD won with a 3–1 in the grand final against Team Vitality.
The season finale returns to the USA – for the first time since Champions 2023 in Los Angeles. Austin is also the first VCT host location in Texas. What is new is that the Game Changers Championship takes place at the same location and in the same time window. Game Changers is Riot's tournament series for women and marginalized genders. Until now its world final ran separately from Champions; in 2027 it becomes part of the big season stage for the first time. In September and October, Austin is seven hours behind Central European Time, so in Europe the matches run in the evening and at night.
Riot has not published match times yet. The time difference to each host city is fixed, though – and with it whether an event runs in the morning, midday or evening for you. The table uses Central European Time (CET/CEST, e.g. Germany, France, Spain) as the reference and accounts for daylight saving time during each event window. For UK viewers, subtract one hour from the "ahead" values and add one hour to the "behind" values.
| City | Event | Difference to Central European Time |
|---|---|---|
| São Paulo | Kickoff | 4 hours behind |
| Berlin | Kickoff | same time |
| Bangkok | Kickoff | 6 hours ahead |
| Hangzhou | Kickoff | 7 hours ahead |
| Seoul | Masters | 8 hours ahead |
| Mexico City | Cup 1 | 8 hours behind |
| Warsaw | Cup 1 | same time |
| Manila / Wuhan | Cup 1 | 6 hours ahead |
| València | Masters | same time |
| Rio de Janeiro | Cup 2 | 5 hours behind |
| Istanbul | Cup 2 | 1 hour ahead |
| Tokyo | Cup 2 | 7 hours ahead |
| Shanghai | Cup 2 | 6 hours ahead |
| Austin | Champions | 7 hours behind |
In short: the EMEA events (Berlin, Warsaw, Istanbul) and Masters València are ideal for European viewers. For the Asian events, mornings and midday are the time to watch; for the tournaments in the Americas, late evenings.
The four international leagues remain: VCT Americas, VCT EMEA, VCT Pacific and VCT China. Each region plays its three regional phases in three different cities. The overview shows where your favorite region travels during the year.
| Region | Kickoff (Jan/Feb) | Cup 1 (Apr/May) | Cup 2 (Aug) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Americas | São Paulo | Mexico City | Rio de Janeiro |
| EMEA | Berlin | Warsaw | Istanbul |
| Pacific | Bangkok | Manila | Tokyo |
| China | Hangzhou | Wuhan | Shanghai |
Two countries appear more than once: Brazil with São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and China with three cities (Hangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai). The EMEA region gets the most varied trip – from Germany via Poland to Türkiye.
To give teams without partner status a real chance, Riot pays fixed qualification payments. Riot published these amounts in June 2026; Sheep Esports confirmed them when the calendar was revealed in October.
| Event reached | Payment per team |
|---|---|
| Kickoff or a VCT Cup | $100,000 |
| A Masters tournament | $200,000 |
| Champions | $400,000 |
| Game Changers Championship | $100,000 support payment |
According to Sheep Esports, more than seven million US dollars in prize money will be paid out across the 2027 season. Anna Donlon, Head of VALORANT Studios, and Leo Faria, Global Head of VALORANT Esports, summed up the idea behind the new system: in the end, anyone should be able to win. According to them, an open team with a strong season can earn more than a million dollars.
| Topic | VCT 2026 | VCT 2027 |
|---|---|---|
| Season structure | Kickoff, Masters Santiago, Stage 1, Masters London, Stage 2, Champions Shanghai | Kickoff, Masters Seoul, Cup 1, Masters València, Cup 2, Champions Austin |
| Regional phases | League stages over several weeks | Two VCT Cups as regional LAN tournaments in changing cities |
| Spots | Partner teams fixed in the league | Partners seeded only into Kickoff; every later spot has to be earned |
| Open teams | Promotion mainly via Challengers and Ascension | Open Qualifiers in all regions, four Kickoff spots per international region |
| Game Changers Championship | Separate event (2026: São Paulo, Oct 22 – Nov 1) | Held together with Champions in Austin |
| World champion | LOUD (3–1 against Team Vitality) | Decided on October 10, 2027 |
For viewers, this means fewer but more meaningful matches: instead of weeks of league games with little pressure, every Cup is about qualifying for the next international event. For teams it means more risk – and, for organizations outside the partner program, a plannable path all the way to the top for the first time.
Riot traditionally accompanies its big tournaments with in-game content such as player cards, buddies and bundles. These four official player cards from the Valorant API tell the backstory of the 2027 season – from the last Champions in Shanghai to Game Changers, which share the stage with Champions for the first time in 2027.
Riot has not yet announced whether there will be tournament bundles, drops or Pick'Ems for the 2027 events. Champions 2026 had both a Champions bundle and Pick'Ems – our pages on them stay online as a reference.
For you as a viewer, the season becomes clearer but also denser. Between mid-January and mid-October there are only a few longer breaks without a big event: between Masters Seoul and Cup 1 (March/April), between Masters València and Cup 2 (July) and between Cup 2 and Champions (early September). Throughout the year, the Open Qualifiers for the next phases run in parallel – Riot has not published their full dates yet. If you follow up-and-coming teams, they are worth a look too.
If you want to use the pros' meta in your own games, focus on the international events: at Masters and Champions, teams show the agent compositions that have won out across all regions. Our agent pick rates show which agents were played most at Champions 2026 and in ranked. Which teams and players led the way in 2026 is on our Valorant teams page.
📅 What happens in the game until the season change – Act 6, the battle pass, the Night Market and the end of the season on January 6, 2027 – is on our Valorant new act page.
🏆 Looking back at the last season finale: the Champions 2026 live hub with every result and the full Champions 2026 bracket.
Riot has not yet set or published some details. As of October 19, 2026, these points are open:
We update this page as soon as Riot publishes new information. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when we last checked.
VCT 2027 starts with Kickoff, which runs from January 14 to February 7, 2027 in São Paulo, Berlin, Bangkok and Hangzhou at the same time. The Open Qualifiers already begin in November 2026.
Masters Seoul is the first international tournament of the season and runs from February 20 to March 3, 2027 in Seoul, South Korea. Riot has not announced the venue yet. The top three teams from each region qualify through Kickoff.
From 2027, VCT Cups replace the old league phases Stage 1 and Stage 2. They are regional LAN tournaments: Cup 1 (April 29 – May 23, 2027) leads to Masters València, Cup 2 (August 5 – 29, 2027) leads to Champions. Partner teams no longer have a guaranteed spot there.
Champions 2027 takes place from September 16 to October 10, 2027 in Austin, Texas (USA). For the first time, the Game Changers Championship runs at the same time and place. It is the first Champions in the USA since 2023 and the first VCT event in Texas.
Yes. The EMEA Kickoff is held in Berlin (January 14 – February 7), VCT Cup 1 EMEA in Warsaw (April 29 – May 23), Masters València in Spain (June 5 – 20) and VCT Cup 2 EMEA in Istanbul (August 5 – 29).
In the Americas, EMEA and Pacific, 12 teams play each Kickoff: 8 partner teams and 4 teams from the Open Qualifiers. In China there are 8 partner teams, 2 visitor teams and 2 teams from the Open Qualifiers.
Yes. Through the Open Qualifiers, every team can qualify for Kickoff and the Cups and take the road to Masters and Champions from there. Riot pays open teams fixed amounts for this: $100,000 for Kickoff or a Cup, $200,000 for a Masters and $400,000 for Champions.
VCT 2027 visits 15 cities and, according to Riot, includes more than 50 tournaments when the open qualifiers are counted. According to Sheep Esports, more than seven million US dollars in prize money will be paid out.
LOUD won Champions 2026 in Shanghai with a 3–1 against Team Vitality in the grand final on October 18, 2026. After 2022, LOUD is the first organization with two Champions titles.
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