The 2022 Valorant Champions Tour Stage 2: Masters will take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Valorant Champions will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, Riot Games announced Friday.
VCT Stage 2: Masters Copenhagen will run from July 10 to July 24, featuring twelve teams from around the world competing for Circuit Points and the international title. North America will once again be sending two representatives to the Masters event.
Valorant Champions, the VCT's end-of-year final, will run from Sept. 2 to Sept. 18 with an expanded pool of 16 international teams competing for the ultimate crown. Unlike last time, this year's Champions event will see just 10 teams qualify via their points accumulated during Stages 1 and 2 as six spots will be made available during the Last Chance Qualifiers in August.
"Our goal is to see our biggest international events played in front of a live audience and both of these cities provided clear pathways towards this goal," Riot Games said in its announcement blog, "while also providing the best possible guarantee that all qualified teams will be able to safely attend and compete. Weâre excited to share the initial details of these two events and will be providing more information in the coming weeks."
Riot did not specify whether or not these two events would be able to have live audiences in attendance.
According to George Geddes of Dot Esports, it appears the tentative plan is for Stage 2: Masters to have a partial crowd, and Champions to have a full crowd.
Following the conclusion of 2022 VCT action, Riot will seemingly pivot toward an entirely new format for Valorant Esports in 2023, as announced in late April.
