Riot Games Moves Oceania from NA to APAC for Valorant Champions Tour 2022
After a disappointing end to Oceania’s run at the Valorant Champions Tour 2021, Riot Games has restructured next year’s tournament circuit to accommodate the region. In 2021, Oceanic teams competed for an entire year only to be robbed of their chance to make it to Valorant Champions due to travel regulations. For the 2022 season, Riot Games has partnered with LetsPlay.Live to host local events and Oceania has been moved from North America (NA) to the Asia Pacific (APAC) region for the Champions Tour.
What’s changing for Oceania in 2022’s competitive season?
Riot Games is partnering with LetsPlay.Live which returns as the exclusive broadcast partner for the new Valorant Oceania Tour. LetsPlay.Live will lead registration, operations, and production of each stage of competitive play, as well as the 2022 VALORANT Oceania Championship. This year the competition boasts a larger prize pool of 80,000 AUD ($57,500) which is a significant increase over 2021’s 30,000 AUD ($21,500) prize pool.
The Valorant Oceania Championship will start in January 2022 and there will be two stages. Each stage will feature regional playoffs where teams can compete for points for the main event. The top teams at the Oceania championship will head to the APAC Last Chance Qualifiers (LCQ) where they will go up against the best teams in Asia-Pacific in a bid to qualify for Valorant Champions 2022.
Unlike other regions, Oceanic teams will not be participating in the international Masters LAN events. The only entry to the world championships will be through the APAC Last Chance Qualifier. The APAC LCQ features teams that qualify for the event via circuit points as well as other Riot-partnered events like the Valorant Conquerors Championship for South Asia.
The 2022 VALORANT Oceania Tour begins with the Stage 1 Open Qualifier in January 2022. Registrations are now open to teams composed of residents of Oceania aged 16 years and over.
Registration for the event is open at: https://letsplay.live/2022vot/
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