VCT partner teams 2027: the 32 teams reported as confirmed
The VCT partner teams for 2027 and 2028 are 32 organisations, eight in each of the four regions, according to reporting that began on October 19, 2026 when Riot started telling teams whether they had been selected. That is down from ten per region, so eight organisations in each territory lose or keep a seat that used to hold ten. Insider Gaming and THESPIKE.GG both count the same 32 names.
Americas: 100 Thieves, G2 Esports, KRÜ, LEVIATÁN, LOUD, MIBR, NRG and Sentinels (Insider Gaming spells the first as KR Esports). EMEA: BBL Esports, Fnatic, FUT Esports, Gentle Mates, Karmine Corp, Team Heretics, Team Liquid and Team Vitality. Pacific: Crazy Raccoon, FULL SENSE, GAM Esports, Gen.G, Paper Rex, Team RRQ, T1 and ZETA Division. China: All Gamers, Bilibili Gaming, EDward Gaming, JD Gaming, Trace Esports, TYLOO, Weibo Gaming and Xi Lai Gaming.
Who lost their VCT partner slot
The headline name is Cloud9, which said it was not selected but "remains committed to VCT and the VALORANT ecosystem" and added "We are not leaving," as quoted by Esports Advocate. Also reported out in the Americas are FlyQuest, FURIA, Shopify Rebellion, ENVY, LYON and M80. In EMEA, Movistar KOI, NAVI, Barça eSports and GIANTX were not picked, and NAVI loses a place it held for four years, per THESPIKE.GG.
The Pacific and China cuts are blunter still. KIWOOM DRX and Nongshim RedForce were not selected, and reports say Global Esports, the VCT Pacific champions, are shutting down competitive operations. In China, FunPlus Phoenix, Wolves Esports, Nova Esports and Titan Esports Club lost partner status. THESPIKE.GG's tracker counts 25 rejected organisations in all, and separately reports that Evil Geniuses missed out and will close its esports operations.
“For whatever comes next, see you all in VCT 2027.”
The five new partners and the surprises
Insider Gaming counts five organisations joining the partner group: G2 Esports in the Americas, Weibo Gaming and XLG in China, and GAM Esports and Crazy Raccoon in Pacific. G2 is the most notable, since it was not part of the Americas group before and now sits alongside 100 Thieves, LOUD, NRG and Sentinels. THESPIKE.GG called Crazy Raccoon the biggest surprise, noting the organisation left VALORANT in 2021.
Not everything is settled. Esports Advocate reported that the eighth Pacific slot had not been named at the time it published, while Insider Gaming's list fills it, and the Americas organisation appears under two spellings. Treat any single list as provisional until Riot posts its own, which Esports Advocate says had not happened when it reported.
What partner status gets a team
Riot's April 8, 2026 announcement of the new VCT sets out the four benefits. Partner teams get a guaranteed base payment each year, a performance bonus for excelling at partnership goals, a team capsule of in-game skins, and direct seeding into later rounds of qualifiers. Riot has not said how large the base payment is for 2027.
The money that is public is large. Esports Advocate reports Riot paid VCT partners more than $105 million in 2025, with $86 million of it from esports digital items, and that the Champions 2026 bundle contributed over $50 million to participating teams, with Riot sharing 50 percent of net proceeds. THESPIKE.GG reported a range of $600,000 to $5 million a year for Americas partners, which Riot has not confirmed, so we do not treat it as fact.
How Riot chose: the five criteria
Riot's April post lists five evaluation 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. Only one of those five is about winning.
That helps explain the shape of the list. Global Esports won a Pacific title and still lost its seat, while organisations with large fanbases and stable finances kept theirs. For a team, the lesson is that partner status is a business decision as much as a sporting one. A strong result on stage did not protect a seat, and a large audience and stable operations counted for as much as trophies.
What happens next: Kickoff and open qualifiers
Partners receive direct entry to VCT Kickoff 2027, filling eight of the 12 seats in the Americas, EMEA and Pacific, according to Esports Advocate. Everyone else has to come through open qualifiers, which Riot has said start in November 2026 and which we cover in our explainer on how VCT 2027 open qualifiers work.
Riot's April post says the tour will host over 20 tournaments a year in more than 16 cities, with prize pools over $6 million a year, and Riot's stated aim is that every team in every territory has a path to every global event. Cloud9 is reportedly holding open tryouts for the qualifiers, while FlyQuest, GIANTX and M80 have not said whether they will compete.
VLR.gg's write-up of the April announcement adds the shape of the season. Open qualifiers feed into Cups, held twice per territory each season, which replace regular league play, end in a finals weekend and qualify teams directly for Masters and Champions. Americas is split into North America, LATAM and Brazil, EMEA into EU, MENA and Türkiye, and Pacific into SEA, Japan, Korea and South Asia, so a dropped organisation has a regional route back.
What it means for fans and the scene
For fans, the most visible change is fewer familiar badges at Kickoff and more of the open-qualifier drama Riot promised. Dropped organisations can still reach Masters and Champions by qualifying, and Riot said in April that non-partners could in extraordinary cases earn more than bottom-of-the-pack partners. Payments set in June give non-partner teams $100,000 for reaching Kickoff or a Cup, $200,000 for Masters and $400,000 for Champions.
For the wider scene, the cut is a warning about how thin esports finances remain. A 32-team ceiling concentrates guaranteed money in fewer hands, and at least two organisations are reported to be leaving competitive play. Until Riot publishes the official list and the 2027 base payment, the numbers above are the best verified picture, and we will update this piece when they arrive.
Frequently asked
Who are the VCT partner teams 2027 and 2028?
Reported partners for 2027 and 2028 are eight per region. Americas: 100 Thieves, G2, KRÜ, LEVIATÁN, LOUD, MIBR, NRG, Sentinels. EMEA: BBL, Fnatic, FUT, Gentle Mates, Karmine Corp, Heretics, Liquid, Vitality. Pacific: Crazy Raccoon, FULL SENSE, GAM, Gen.G, Paper Rex, RRQ, T1, ZETA. China: All Gamers, Bilibili, EDward Gaming, JD Gaming, Trace, TYLOO, Weibo, Xi Lai Gaming. The list comes from Insider Gaming and THESPIKE.GG, and Riot had not published its own master list when Esports Advocate reported, so a spelling or a Pacific slot could still change.
How many partner slots does each VCT region have for 2027?
Eight. Riot reduced each region's partner count from ten to eight, giving 32 partners across the Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China for the 2027 and 2028 cycle. Insider Gaming and Esports Advocate both report the reduction, and the cut was applied to every region rather than just one. It is a two-year partnership cycle, so these slots are meant to hold through 2028 under the new tournament-based VCT model.
Is Cloud9 still in VCT in 2027?
Cloud9 was not selected as a partner, but it says it is staying in VALORANT. Esports Advocate quotes the organisation saying it "remains committed to VCT and the VALORANT ecosystem" and "We are not leaving." It is reportedly holding open tryouts so it can compete through the open qualifiers, which is the route every non-partner team must take to reach Kickoff, Cups, Masters or Champions. FlyQuest, GIANTX and M80 have not said whether they will enter.
What do VCT partner teams get paid?
Riot has not published the 2027 base payment. Its April 8, 2026 announcement promises partners a guaranteed yearly base payment, a performance bonus, a team skin capsule and direct seeding into later qualifier rounds. For context, Esports Advocate reports Riot paid partners over $105 million in 2025, mostly from digital item sales. A reported range of $600,000 to $5 million for Americas teams comes from THESPIKE.GG and Riot has not confirmed it, so treat it as unverified.
Which VALORANT teams lost VCT partner status?
Reported cuts include Cloud9, FlyQuest, FURIA, Shopify Rebellion, ENVY, LYON and M80 in the Americas; Movistar KOI, NAVI, Barça eSports and GIANTX in EMEA; KIWOOM DRX, Nongshim RedForce and Global Esports in Pacific; and FunPlus Phoenix, Wolves Esports, Nova Esports and Titan Esports Club in China. THESPIKE.GG counts 25 rejected organisations in total, and reports that Evil Geniuses also missed out and will shut down its esports operations.
Can non-partner teams still reach VCT Masters and Champions?
Yes. Under the VCT 2027 model, every path to Masters and Champions starts with open qualifiers that any team worldwide can enter, and partners simply enter later rounds. Riot's stated goal is that every team in every territory has a path to every global event. Non-partners also earn payments, reported at $100,000 for Kickoff or a Cup, $200,000 for Masters and $400,000 for Champions. Partners enter qualifiers at later rounds instead of the first.