Valorant
At the end of December 2022, VALORANT was approved by the NPPA for release in China. Since the approval, a lot has happened behind the scenes of VALORANT China, and some aspects were in the works even before the approval was granted.
As early as 2024, the VALORANT Champions Tour will have a new look, this time with four leagues instead of three. The original Pacific, Americas, Europe, Middle East, and African leagues will now be joined by a Chinese league, made possible by the game's release in China earlier this year.
Our team has learned everything we know about developments in eSports VALORANT in China, and we're ready to share it with you.
Highlights
- All information about already held and future competitions at the Valoranta eSports arena in China
- Details about Chinese teams
A Little of The History of Valorant's Emergence in China
On January 17, 2023, Riot Games announced the addition of FPX and EDG to the VCT LOCK//IN kick-off tournament in São Paulo. However, rumors of the two Chinese organizations being invited to LOCK//IN have appeared on Weibo since September 2022.
TJ Sports has been managing the VALORANT esports in China since 2023. TJ Sports is an LPL operator in China and has experience organizing top eSports productions.
On July 12, the game was launched in China. Notably, since the region's international debut, China has experienced rapid growth. Initially, Chinese teams had to battle through the East Asian Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) to qualify for Valorant Champions, but the region was awarded three slots in 2023.
It doesn't matter that Chinese teams didn't win at Valorant Champions 2023, but Bilibili Gaming & EDG made the playoffs.
At Valorant Champions 2023, China was represented by Edward Gaming (EDG), Bilibili Gaming (BLG), and FunPlus Phoenix (FPX). However, FPX faltered severely in the tournament group stage, losing two series against Evil Geniuses (EG) and T1.
Meanwhile, EDG and BLG parted ways with a 2:1 score. EDG won against GIANTS and lost to Paper Rex, and they had to fight against GIANTS again in the deciding match to make the playoffs.
On the other hand, BLG beat NRG and lost to Fnatic in the Winners' Match. Nevertheless, it proved worth a playoff spot in the deciding match, where it beat NRG 2:0 again.
Notably, China has attended only the following international tournaments since 2022:
- Valorant Champions 2022;
- Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) LOCK//IN;
- Valorant 2023 Masters Tokyo;
- Valorant Champions 2023.
Developments in China's eSports Scene in 2024
On December 11, Riot Games announced all ten partner teams in the Chinese league (VCT China 2024).
The partner teams will kick off their Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) campaign in China in February 2024 with the VCT 2024: China Kick-Off tournament.
The top two teams in the tournament, FunPlus Phoenix and Edward Gaming, have qualified for the VCT Madrid Masters. This is also the first international event of the year.
Chinese Professional Valorant Teams
A total of eleven teams will participate in VCT China 2024. In addition to the usual ten partner teams, another team will qualify for this major league through the Valorant China Ascension 2023 event.
We will cover the ten announced VCT China partner teams and the promoted Dragon Ranger Gaming team.
Nova Esports
Nova Esports is well known in several mobile games, most notably Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, and Arena of Valor.
Nova Esports entered Mobile Legends: Bang Bang in 2023, winning the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2021.
The organization was founded in 2016 as Class of Clans and has established itself as one of the notable mobile esports teams in a short time.
According to Nova's website, the team only competes in mobile games, and VALORANT is the only PC game the team is currently investing in.
JD Gaming
JD Gaming is known for its success in League of Legends, where it won two LPL splits in 2023, the Mid-Season Invitational, and was knocked out in the semifinals of the 2023 World Championship by future T1 winners.
In VALORANT, the team participated in the Chinese Evolution Series. JD Gaming is owned by Chinese e-commerce site JD.com.
Trace Esports
Trace Esports is one of the lesser-known teams participating in VCT China.
VALORANT is the first PC game to feature Trace Esports, but VCT isn't the first time viewers may have seen it in action. The lineup has already competed in the VCT Champions qualifiers in China, where they lost to FPX and didn't make it to the Champions.
Wolves Esports
Wolves Esports is owned by the Premier League football club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
In addition to VALORANT, Wolves Esports competes in Call of Duty Mobile and is considered one of the strongest teams in the country and the world. Wolves Esports won the 2023 Call of Duty Mobile World Championship and the Snapdragon Pro Series Season 3 in China.
In addition to VALORANT and Call of Duty, Wolves Esports is also involved in Rainbow Six, Street Fighter, Honor of Kings, and several other games.
FunPlus Phoenix
The team is primarily known for League of Legends and Counter-Strike. FPX is another solid and experienced contender for the VCT China throne, operating in several markets since its inception in 2017.
FunPlus, a game development company in China, owns the company.
FPX has much more experience playing VALORANT, albeit as an EMEA representative, than some other teams. The team placed 4th at VALORANT Champions 2022 and won the VCT Stage 2 Masters the same year, making them one of the most successful Chinese teams internationally.
FPX also participated in the VCT LOCK//IN tournament as the second representative of China.
All Gamers
Despite being one of the lesser-known names on the VCT China team roster, All Gamers is a notable brand for CrossFire, especially in China.
The organization is one of the most successful CrossFire teams, having won the CrossFire Pro League over ten times and winning CrossFire Stars, the game's world championship, in 2021.
The team is also one of the oldest organizations on this list, first established in 1999.
BilBili Gaming
A Chinese team made headlines after reaching the League of Legends World Championship semifinals 2023.
The name came from the team's owner, Chinese video hosting company Bilibili.com.
BiliBili Gaming is one of China's most experienced and reputable VALORANT teams, having participated in the VALORANT Champions 2023 and finished in the top ten.
In addition, the team also owned the Overwatch League franchise Hangzhou Spark before the competition was canceled in 2023.
Edward Gaming
Edward Gaming is based in Shanghai and has already become known for its success in various games and genres. They won the League of Legends World Championship in 2021 and the Mid-Season Invitational in 2015.
Edward Gaming has participated in several major international tournaments, qualifying for the VALORANT Champions in 2022 and 2023 and the VCT Masters Tokyo 2023.
Edward Gaming is one of the most successful Chinese VALORANT teams in international tournaments, along with BiliBili Gaming and FunPlus Phoenix.
Titan Esports Club
This team is known to Chinese viewers more than foreign viewers. Titan is known for its PUBG Mobile team, which competes in the Peacekeeper Elite League.
The team was founded in 2021 and won the Peacekeeper Elite League, Summer, in 2023. It is considered one of the most successful teams in the game.
The team has yet to make an impression in VALORANT, but they already have experience in the game. The team participated in VALORANT China Evolution Series Act 3, finishing 5th place in the tournament.
TYLOO
TYLOO is one of the most well-known Counter-Strike brands in Asia. The team was founded in 2007 and actively popularized CS2 in China.
The rich experience of playing first-person shooters is a great advantage of TYLOO.
TYLOO recently qualified for IEM Chengdu 2024 and has participated in several BLAST and ESL tournaments.
TYLOO only appeared on the VALORANT esports scene at VCT China, but the team has previously participated in local and regional tournaments like the other lineups on this list.
Dragon Ranger
The team made headlines after winning the inaugural edition of the Ascension tournament in late 2023. They became the first promoted team of VCT China.
Dragon Ranger Gaming is known for its success in the mobile MOBA game Honor of Kings, where they finished second at the Honor of Kings International Championship 2022 and several other high-profile tournaments, bringing home several million pounds of prize money between 2018 and 2023.
Within VALORANT, DRG has competed in the VALORANT Champions 2023 and China Evolution Series Chinese qualifiers. However, her most notable achievement to date has been making it to VCT China for the next two years.
Everything About VCT China 2024
The Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) China 2024 regular season will be the first of its kind in the region, consisting of two regional Valorant tournaments: the VCT China 2024 Stage 1 and VCT China 2024 Stage 2, which will start immediately after the VCT Masters Madrid 2024.
VCT China 2024 Stage 1 will be the second stage this year, where all regional partner teams will face each other, with the top three qualifying for VCT Masters Shanghai 2024.
This will be followed by VCT China 2024 Stage 2, where regional teams will again battle it out for one of the three slots available for Valorant Champions 2024.
In the first stage, the teams were divided into "Alpha" and "Omega", consisting of five people and the latter of six.
Alpha Groups
Edward Gaming
Dragon Ranger Gaming
Bilili Gaming
Nova Esports
Wolves Esports
Omega Groups
FunPlus Phoenix
Trace Esport
Titan Esports Club
JD Gaming
All gamers
TAYLU
The tournament will be held offline from April 5, 2024, to May 12, 2024, at Valo Arena in Shanghai, China.
It consists of two parts: group stage and playoffs. In the playoffs, all matches will be played in a best-of-three format, except for the lower net final and grand final, which will be played in a best-of-five format.
In the second stage, the teams will also be divided into two groups: Alpha and Omega.
The tournament will be held offline from June 15, 2024, to July 21, 2024, at Valo Arena in Shanghai, China.
The top three teams will qualify for the Valorant Champions 2024. In addition to the top three ranked teams in VCT China 2024 Stage 2, another fourth team from the region will also qualify for the World Championships based on the points earned by the top teams during the season.
Summary
Until now, China has been a relatively isolated region in terms of VALORANT competition, mainly due to licensing of the shooter itself from Riot Games and problems with scrimmages against teams from other areas.
However, the new league will open up more opportunities, meaning that teams in VCT Pacific and VCT China will now likely participate in scrimmages more often, integrating even more players into the growing gaming landscape.
Follow the news on the China esports scene in our section. You might also be interested in reading about other teams in Valorant that will be fun to follow in 2024.
