Riot Games unveils first collegiate VALORANT season

In a continuous attempt to foster the young esports talent of North America, The Riot Scholastic Association of America has announced the Inaugural College VALORANT Season (CVAL).

After successfully hosting the collegiate league for League of Legends for five years, Riot is all set to empower the esports scene of collegiate Valorant across USA and Canada with the Inaugural College VALORANT Season (CVAL). The league will be split into four regions—North, East, South, and West, with a total of 128 teams in each region.

CVAL Format

The teams will be split up into 32 groups, each with four teams competing in a round-robin format. Only the top team from each group advances to the next round, where the teams compete in a single-elimination bracket until only the final eight remain. In a double-elimination format, the top eight teams will compete in the finals to decide the region’s winner. The Valorant College League will hold three open regional leagues in the first year during the seasons of fall, winter, and spring, according to the press release.

In addition to giving out scholarships at each of the three tournaments in the college circuit, Riot will also award scholarships at the college VALORANT Championship, the circuit’s biggest tournament. The top two teams from each region will qualify for the College Championship. With enough circuit points, two more teams that failed to qualify through the regional leagues could still qualify for the Championship.

Riot is shaping the collegiate esports scene of NA 

Earlier in June, Riot Games announced changes to its scholastic and collegiate League of Legends ecosystem. As a result, the developer ended the exclusive partnership with PlayVS, a platform for scholastic competitions, which was aimed to foster North American amateur esports. According to a statement posted on June 8 by Riot, the scholastic League of Legends now allows other tournament organizers to host League competitions across North America as they enter a non-exclusive high school model. 

Prior to the changes, PlayVS was the only exclusive platform for scholastic competitions for the past two years, restricting other organizers from hosting official scholastic matches. As Riot lifts the restrictions, any tournament organizer can now host a top-tier competition for high school teams. According to Riot, the adjustments will create a more sustainable esports ecosystem for North American collegiate esports and provide players a better platform to shine.

The esports ecosystem for VALORANT in the North American region could advance significantly if Riot chooses to implement the same tactics in Valorant. However, Riot will announce more details on CVAL in August including the rules, eligibility criteria, and registration details.

Header: Riot Games