Riot Games have published the full list of VCT partner teams for 2027 and 2028, and explained how they chose them. Results were only one of five criteria, and one of this year’s Masters champions is not on the list. The players who lost their seats with their teams are already looking for new ones.
Riot named the 32 organisations in the early hours of Thursday, European time, in an announcement on VALORANT Esports and on X. There are eight partners in each of the four regions: Americas, EMEA, Pacific and China. The list matches the teams that had announced their own status since Monday. T1 and FULL SENSE were the last to do so, on Wednesday, which completed the Pacific list that was still open when Pley covered the teams that missed out on Tuesday.
The 32 partner teams
| Americas | EMEA | Pacific | China |
|---|---|---|---|
 100 Thieves |  FNATIC |  Paper Rex |  EDward Gaming |
 G2 Esports |  Team Liquid | RRQ |  Xi Lai Gaming |
 NRG |  Team Heretics | Gen.G | Bilibili Gaming |
| Sentinels |  Karmine Corp |  T1 |  TYLOO |
| KRÜ Esports |  Team Vitality | FULL SENSE | Trace Esports |
| LEVIATÁN |  Gentle Mates | GAM Esports | All Gamers |
 LOUD |  FUT Esports | ZETA DIVISION |  JD Gaming |
 MIBR | BBL Esports | Crazy Raccoon | Weibo Gaming |
Continuity is the rule rather than the exception. Of the 30 organisations that started the international leagues as partners in 2023, 19 are still partners: seven in the Americas, seven in EMEA and five in the Pacific. T1, who won Masters Bangkok in 2025 and reached the playoffs at Champions Shanghai this month, and Paper Rex, runners-up at Masters Santiago in March, both kept their places.
The Pacific has the most new faces. GAM Esports, a Vietnamese organisation with a decade in League of Legends, enter Valorant directly as a partner and have not yet announced a roster. Crazy Raccoon return to Valorant for the first time since 2023. FULL SENSE, who played their first international event at Masters London this year, keep their seat. In China, Weibo Gaming are partners for the first time.
Why Riot picked them
According to Riot, more than 100 teams from around the world registered their interest. The process began earlier this year with written proposals, and a smaller group of finalists were then interviewed by Riot’s global and regional esports leads. Paper Rex wrote on X that their application was 104 pages, and Nongshim RedForce CEO Evans Oh has said his organisation sent more than 110 slides.
Riot listed five criteria:
- Commitment to grow the VALORANT community
- Community resonance across fandom and content
- Business sustainability and responsible operations
- Operational excellence and established infrastructure
- Competitive success and performance development
Only one of the five is about results, and Riot were open about where the weight was.
Our goal was to identify organizations that bring something unique to the VCT, whether that’s a passionate local fanbase, a distinct identity, a history of competitive excellence, or a demonstrated ability to build resonant experiences for the VALORANT community. While competitive results were an important part of our evaluation, we placed particular emphasis on organizations that could help us build fandom and community resonance for years to come.
It also helps explain why results alone did not secure a seat. Nongshim RedForce won Masters Santiago in March and reached the playoffs at Champions Shanghai, but are out. Global Esports won VCT Pacific Stage 2 six weeks ago, and are now leaving esports to become an AI studio. GAM, meanwhile, got a seat before they have played a single VCT match.
What a seat gives, and what it does not
The partnership runs in two-year cycles that can be renewed, so the current deals cover 2027 and 2028. Partners receive annual financial support from Riot and can earn more from in-game items such as Team and Season Capsules and the Championship bundle. That bundle is no small thing: the Champions 2026 bundle has raised over $50 million for VCT teams. Riot also promise “incentives tied to their contributions to growing VALORANT Esports”.
The sporting guarantee is much smaller than before. Partners get a direct place in VCT Kickoff 2027, and that is all. After Kickoff, they have to earn their way to the Cups, Masters and Champions against teams from the open qualifiers, and Riot wrote that their partners “will for the first time face an onslaught of new challengers throughout the season”.
Each Kickoff in the Americas, EMEA and Pacific has twelve teams: the eight partners and four teams from the open qualifiers. In China, the eight partners are joined by two guest teams from the VCT China Threshold and two qualifiers. The four Kickoffs are played between January 14 and February 7 in São Paulo, Berlin, Bangkok and Hangzhou, and the top three in each region go to Masters Seoul. In the Americas and EMEA, every non-partner team that reaches Kickoff receives $100,000.
When the market opens
Riot’s announcement does not give a date for free agency. VCT contracts for 2026 expire when the season ends on November 2, and that is when most players without a new deal become free agents. Cloud9 have written that free agency begins on November 3.
The open qualifiers start almost straight away, so the teams without a seat have very little time to build rosters.
| Region | Qualifier 1 | Qualifier 2 | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | November 5 to 8 | November 12 to 15 | November 20 to 22 and December 1 to 6 |
| Europe | November 5 to 8 | November 12 to 15 | November 26 to December 5 |
| Türkiye | November 10 to 13 | November 18 to 21 | November 26 to December 5 |
| MENA | November 1 to 3 | November 9 to 11 | Decider November 20, final December 6 |
Brazil and Latin America have their own qualifiers, and the runners-up from North America, Brazil and Latin America meet in a last chance qualifier in São Paulo on December 17 and 18 for the final Americas Kickoff spot.
The biggest names without a seat
Nongshim RedForce: 2026 Masters Santiago champions. Staying in Valorant and going through the open qualifiers.- KIWOOM DRX: in Valorant since 2020, first as Vision Strikers. “For whatever comes next, see you all in VCT 2027,” the team wrote.
Cloud9: partners since 2023. Staying, with open tryouts already under way.
NAVI: will play the EMEA Kickoff qualifiers with the academy roster NAVI Junior.
FURIA: have not decided whether to stay in Valorant.
Global Esports: 2026 Pacific Stage 2 winners. Leaving esports.
Evil Geniuses: 2023 world champions. Announced on Tuesday that they will cease operations on November 2, shortly after NRG confirmed the last Americas seat.
ENVY, FlyQuest, Shopify Rebellion, M80, LYON, GIANTX, Barça eSports, Eintracht Frankfurt, Movistar KOI, DetonatioN FocusMe and BOOM Esports also missed out. In China, FunPlus Phoenix, Nova Esports, Titan Esports Club and Wolves Esports are without a seat, and FunPlus Phoenix are already playing in the China Threshold for one of the two guest places.
The players already on the market
The first players and coaches have announced that they are looking for new teams:
Dambi (Nongshim RedForce): the Masters Santiago MVP has been allowed to explore his options. “I’m still in talks with NS, but they’ve also given me permission to explore my options for next year,” he said, according to VLR.- Sungmin (Nongshim RedForce): the coach, who led the coaching staff in Stage 2, is a free agent and looking for an assistant coach role.
Shyy, 
basic and artzin (FURIA): all three are unrestricted free agents. Their contracts originally ran until 2027, according to VLR, and FURIA now have no players left on their active roster.- UdoTan and
xavi8k (Global Esports): UdoTan was the MVP of Pacific Stage 2. xavi8k, the team’s in-game leader, says he is open to any region. 
Jackk and v1c (Cloud9): both allowed to explore their options. Head coach Veer is entering free agency.
The whole Evil Geniuses team, Paincakes, supamen, bao, dgzin and zerona with head coach potter, become free agents on November 2 and are already free to talk to other teams. At Nongshim RedForce, every player contract runs out on the same date. Only head coach SilKanoN is signed for 2027, according to VLR.
With both Pacific Stage 2 finalists outside the partnership, and one of them gone from esports altogether, the Pacific market in particular could look very different by the time the Kickoff qualifiers begin.
