Valorant esports teams in the VCT as of October 2026
Valorant esports teams in the VCT are the 32 organizations Riot named partners on October 22, 2026: eight each in the Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China, on two-year renewable cycles covering 2027 and 2028. That is a cut from the 12 teams per league at the 2026 Kickoff. LOUD, an Americas partner, won Champions Shanghai on October 18.
Most team lists you will find online were written for the 2026 season and are now out of date. Riot's own announcement, published October 22, 2026, says more than 100 teams submitted interest and that eight partners were chosen in each of the four territories. The new cycle starts with the 2027 season, so for anyone asking which teams are in the league next year, the 2027 list is the one that counts.
A note on sourcing. Riot's announcement states the counts and the rules but does not print the names in text we could read, and its partner page loaded only part of the roster. The full regional lists below come from The Spike and Insider Gaming, which agree with each other and with the names Riot's page did show. We have not seen a conflict between them.
Americas: eight partners for 2027 and 2028
The Americas list is 100 Thieves, G2 Esports, KRÜ, Leviatán, LOUD, MIBR, NRG and Sentinels. Insider Gaming counts G2 as the one new partner in the region. The 2026 Americas league had 12 teams, according to Wikipedia's season page, and four of them are missing from the new list: Cloud9, Evil Geniuses, FURIA and ENVY, the Challengers side that won promotion through Ascension a year ago. Insider Gaming names Cloud9 among the excluded applicants.
This is the region that just produced the world champion. LOUD won Champions Shanghai, Leviatán won Masters London earlier in the season, and G2 and 100 Thieves finished fourth and third in Shanghai. Four of the eight retained names reached the Champions podium or won a 2026 Masters, which says something about how little the cut hurt the top end.
“Partnership will work on two-year renewable cycles.”
EMEA: eight partners and two familiar names gone
The EMEA partners are BBL Esports, Fnatic, FUT Esports, Gentle Mates, Karmine Corp, Team Heretics, Team Liquid and Team Vitality. Gentle Mates are the interesting survivor. They entered the league in 2026 only because Movistar KOI's slot was removed, per Wikipedia, and they now hold a full two-year partnership while longer-established brands do not.
Natus Vincere is the one established organization The Spike names as missing out. Compared with Wikipedia's 2026 table, GiantX, PCFIC and Eternal Fire are also absent from the new list. Team Vitality, the beaten finalist at Champions, stays. The league drops from 12 teams to eight, so four slots vanish in a region where the competitive middle class was already crowded.
Pacific: new faces and a Masters champion left out
The Pacific partners are Crazy Raccoon, FULL SENSE, GAM Esports, Gen.G, Paper Rex, Rex Regum Qeon, T1 and ZETA DIVISION. Insider Gaming reports GAM Esports and Crazy Raccoon as the two new Pacific partners. Paper Rex finished runner-up at both 2026 Masters events, Santiago and London, per Wikipedia, and keeps its place.
The surprise is who is not there. Nongshim RedForce won Masters Santiago this year and does not appear on the 2027 partner list, and Insider Gaming names Global Esports, described as the VCT Pacific champion, among the exclusions. Riot said competitive success was only one of five criteria, and this region is where that statement visibly bit.
China: Weibo Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming join the core
China's eight partners are All Gamers, Bilibili Gaming, EDward Gaming, JD Gaming, Trace Esports, TYLOO, Weibo Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming. Insider Gaming lists Weibo Gaming and XLG as new partners. Wikipedia's 2026 page shows no changes in the Chinese league last year, which makes this the first reshuffle there, and FunPlus Phoenix, Nova Esports, Titan Esports Club, Wolves Esports and Dragon Ranger Gaming are on the 2026 list but not the 2027 one.
Chinese clubs did reach Shanghai in force: Riot's tournament page lists JD Gaming, Xi Lai Gaming, TYLOO and EDward Gaming as the four VCT China qualifiers, one of 16 teams split four per region. None of them reached the top four, but the home region gets a settled, eight-club league to build on for two years.
How VCT partnership works: criteria, money and guarantees
Riot's October 22 post lists five selection criteria: commitment to growing the VALORANT community; community resonance across fandom and content; business sustainability and responsible operations; operational excellence and established infrastructure; and competitive success and performance development. Riot says it placed particular emphasis on fandom and community, although results also mattered. Teams submitted proposals and a smaller group of finalists was interviewed by global and regional esports leads.
Partnership runs on two-year renewable cycles. Partners receive annual financial support, extra revenue from in-game digital goods such as team and season capsules and the Championship bundle, and incentives tied to growing the scene. The Spike reported in April 2026 that annual amounts for partnered teams in North America, Latin America and Brazil range from $600,000 to $5 million, depending on results and skin sales. Riot has not confirmed that range in the pages we read, so treat it as reporting.
The sporting guarantee is narrow. Partners get direct qualification to VCT Kickoff at the start of the 2027 season. After that, Riot says, they compete with Open Qualifier teams, and only competitive performance earns a place at Cups, Masters and Champions.
How teams get in and out: promotion in 2026 and what changes
For 2026, the route in was Challengers. Riot retired the Ascension tournament, and four Challengers teams per territory qualified into the Stage 2 play-ins, with a $75,000 stipend for travel, visas and attendance for those who made Stage 2 Playoffs, per Riot's 2026 season-start post. Wikipedia notes that Ascension still decided who entered the 2026 leagues, which is how ENVY, PCFIC and others arrived.
Everything above is the old ladder. For 2027 and 2028, Riot's announcement describes a fixed pool of partners plus open qualifiers, and the pages we read do not spell out a promotion and relegation ladder for a team outside the 32. Riot's own site is already advertising Kickoff Qualifiers, so non-partners have a front door. Whether it leads anywhere beyond the first stage is the open question for the cycle.
The practical reading: a partner who stumbles keeps its money and its Kickoff slot for two years, and an outsider must earn every international seat through results. That protects the 32 more than the old system protected the middle of the table.
Who won Champions 2026 in Shanghai
LOUD beat Team Vitality 3-1 in the grand final on October 18, 2026, at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, according to Wikipedia and Insider Gaming. The maps went to LOUD on Summit 13-11 after trailing 3-9, Vitality on Lotus 13-8, then LOUD on Sunset 13-5 and Haven 13-10. Roberto "erde" Lobos was named MVP.
It is LOUD's second Champions title after 2022, and Wikipedia calls LOUD the first organization to win two. Insider Gaming says the roster was the youngest ever to win Champions, averaging about 20 years and five months. The tournament ran from September 24 to October 18, drew 16 teams, and paid $2,250,000 in total, of which LOUD took $1,000,000, per Wikipedia. 100 Thieves finished third and G2 Esports fourth.
The result shapes the new list less than you might think. Riot's criteria weighed fandom and business health alongside results, and the champion, the runner-up and both semifinalists are all retained partners. Our separate explainer covers how the VCT works and our Shanghai piece covers the bracket, so this page sticks to who holds the slots.
What to watch before Kickoff 2027
Three things decide whether the 32-team model reads as a success. First, how much the open qualifiers matter: the Riot homepage lists Kickoff Qualifiers and says open qualifiers are live for VCT 2027, and a non-partner reaching a Masters would show the door is real. Second, how the excluded organizations cope, since Riot's cut removed 16 slots from the 48 that took part in 2026 Kickoff.
Third, whether the retained brands treat the two-year term as security or complacency. The record from this season is mixed: a Masters London winner in Leviatán and a world champion in LOUD, but also a Masters Santiago winner in Nongshim who now has to qualify the hard way. All figures here are as of October 2026, and Riot may still publish rules for the cycle that change the picture.
Frequently asked
What are the Valorant esports teams in the VCT?
As of October 2026, Riot has named 32 partner teams for the 2027 and 2028 seasons, eight in each of the Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China. Examples include LOUD, G2 Esports and Sentinels in the Americas, Fnatic and Team Vitality in EMEA, Paper Rex and T1 in Pacific, and EDward Gaming and JD Gaming in China. Partnership runs on two-year renewable cycles, and Riot said more than 100 teams applied. The 2026 Kickoff had 12 teams per league.
Who won Valorant Champions 2026?
LOUD won Champions 2026 in Shanghai, beating Team Vitality 3-1 in the grand final on October 18, 2026. LOUD took Summit 13-11, Sunset 13-5 and Haven 13-10, while Vitality won Lotus 13-8. Roberto erde Lobos was MVP. It was LOUD's second Champions title after 2022. The tournament had 16 teams and a $2,250,000 prize pool, with $1,000,000 going to the winner, according to Wikipedia.
How many teams are in VCT partnership?
There are 32 partner teams for the 2027 and 2028 cycle, announced by Riot on October 22, 2026. Each of the four territories, the Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China, has eight. In 2026 each league had 12 teams at Kickoff, so the new cycle removes 16 slots. Riot said more than 100 teams submitted interest, and finalists were interviewed by global and regional esports leads before the selection.
How do teams get into the VCT partner league?
Teams applied to Riot, submitted proposals, and finalists were interviewed. Riot judged community growth, fandom resonance, business sustainability, operational excellence and competitive success, with extra weight on fandom and community. Partners get direct qualification to Kickoff, then compete with Open Qualifier teams for Cups, Masters and Champions. In 2026, four Challengers teams per territory reached the Stage 2 play-ins, and Ascension was retired.
Which teams were left out of the 2027 VCT partner list?
Insider Gaming names Cloud9 and Global Esports, described as the VCT Pacific champion, among the excluded applicants. The Spike names Natus Vincere. Compared with Wikipedia's 2026 table, Nongshim RedForce, which won Masters Santiago, and FunPlus Phoenix are also not on the new list. The excluded organizations can still compete through open qualifiers, but they no longer have a guaranteed place at Kickoff.
How much do VCT partnered teams get paid?
Riot says partners receive annual financial support, revenue from in-game digital goods such as team and season capsules and the Championship bundle, and incentives for growing the scene. It does not publish amounts in the pages we read. The Spike reported in April 2026 that partnered teams in North America, Latin America and Brazil receive between $600,000 and $5 million per year, depending on results and skin sales, so treat that as reporting.