Riot Games recently announced details for the first Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) event of the 2023 season, and it is the biggest event on the VALORANT calendar so far. This inaugural tournament is the VCT Lock-In Brazil and will feature three weeks of top-tier competition from all Riot-affiliated teams.
Riot Games released their plans for Valorant’s future earlier in 2022, outlining a new framework that would be followed to guarantee the expansion of the game’s esports environment. Consequently, Riot has collaborated with thirty teams, ten from each of the three major regions – the Pacific, EMEA, and the Americas – to participate in Valorant’s tier-1 circuit.
Riot Games Explains Format and Schedule for VCT LOCK//IN São Paulo 2023
It’s time to lock in for the first international event of the #VCT 2023 season! 🔒
Here’s everything you need to know about LOCK//IN Brazil. pic.twitter.com/11hMbHMYFr
— VALORANT Champions Tour (@ValorantEsports) January 17, 2023
The first VCT tournament of the 2023 season will be held at the Ginásio do Ibirapuera in So Paulo, Brazil, from 3 February to 4 March 2023, and will include all 30 franchised Valorant lineups as well as two invited Chinese teams. The event will have a live audience the entire time. They also claimed that the VCT LOCK-IN tickets would go on sale on December 13 at 8 AM PT (1:00 PM BST).
The VCT LOCK/IN in Brazil will be a one-of-a-kind esports extravaganza, with all 30 partnering teams contending for a single championship under one roof. All the teams will battle in front of a live crowd at the 11,000-seat Ginásio do Ibirapuera indoor sporting arena. The winner will earn their league an extra slot at the VCT Masters 2023.
Riot Games has yet to reveal the tournament’s prize money. However, being a competition involving 32 of the world’s best Valorant rosters, fans may anticipate the VCT LOCK/IN to present its champions with a hefty cash prize.
Format and Teams
Riot Games had to use a unique format to handle the VCT LOCK/IN 2023 proceedings due to the size of the competition. The format follows a single-elimination bracket, with the first three rounds being played in a best-of-three format involving all 32 teams. The semi-finals and the grand final will be best-of-five clashes.
All the teams will be divided into two groups, namely Alpha and Omega. The top two teams from each group will advance to the single-elimination playoffs. The Alpha group matches will take place from 13-19 Feb while the Omega group matches are set to take place from 22-27 Feb.
You can find the schedule and a list of participating teams in the official blog post.
Global Esports is the only Indian team to become a franchised team in the Pacific Region. Their first match is against Team Vitality on 23 February.
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Fans can watch the matches live on the official Riot Games’ Twitch and YouTube channels. If you’d like to join in on the action, tickets are on sale at Ticket360.
Following the conclusion of the event, the first competitive split of the 2023 season will begin with weekly LAN competition in the Americas, Pacific, and EMEA zones.
