VCT Challengers 2024: Affiliate Teams, Two-Way Players, Player Loans Explained

Valorant has rolled out more information about the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) Challengers 2024 which is scheduled to start in February and for the first time ever it will run throughout the year in three batches. This change has been implemented to ensure a steady rate of competition across the Tier 2 circuit.

The relegation and promotion system will also be introduced where Challengers and Premier teams will get a chance to clash against each other, occurring after the conclusion of both VCT Challengers 2024 Stage 1 and Stage 2.

Lastly, to bolster the Tier 2 scene and provide players with more opportunities, a few new policies have been introduced to reach this aim, Affiliate Teams, Two-Way Players, and Player Loans.

VCT Challengers 2024 - Affiliate Teams, Two-Way Players, Player Loan: Complete Details

Here are the new policies that have been introduced by Valorant to build deeper connections and provide more opportunities across its competitive ecosystem.

VCT Challengers 2023: Affiliate Teams

This will allow teams from the International Leagues to build partnerships with Challengers and Game Changers teams.

All teams that establish an affiliate partnership will be allowed to collaborate more closely on content and other commercial partnerships.

Affiliate partnerships with Challenger teams must occur within the same region, however those with Game Changers teams have no regional restrictions.

VCT Challengers 2023: Two-Way Players

This is an attempt to solve a problem Valorant frequently faces across the International Leagues, where multiple substitute players signed to International teams did not receive play time and hence lost out on building relevant experience within the competitive scene.

With the introduction of Two-Way Players, substitute players that may not be seeing full-time play on the starting roster of an International League team may play down on the Affiliate Partner Team’s roster in Challengers and Game Changers, giving those players valuable competitive experience instead of being relegated to the bench.

VCT Challengers 2023: Player Loans

This will be introduced in tandem with Two-Way Players to help bolster overall player developmental opportunities.

In 2024, International League Teams will be permitted to loan players on their roster to other teams outside of the International Leagues, such as Challengers or Game Changers teams.

However, unlike Two-Way Players, these loaned players will not be eligible to compete for their parent team until the loan expires. In addition to this, these player loans are not tied to the Affiliate Partnerships system, providing a wider range of destination teams for the loaned player.

These are some of the new changes introduced by Valorant which will feature for the first time in VCT Challengers 2024, paving a path for new possibilities.

Together the three policies plan to enrich the competitive scene by making it more engaging and open for both aspiring players and fans, who get to witness fresh talent in the game.