Riot Games to put an end to VCT Incentive program as per reports

Riot Games is planning a complete overhaul of the Incentive Program for partner teams, per a new report. The new changes would mean the end of the ‘incentive program’ in VALORANT. 

Riot Games is reportedly planning to put an end to the incentive program in VALORANT as per a Sheep Esports report. The Incentive Program has been wildly popular encouraging teams to sign content creators, co-stream, and create VALORANT content. It has been partly responsible for the boost in the esports’ viewership numbers. 

Teams would receive monetary compensation from Riot Games based on their certain metrics. One such metric was viewership achieved, which would often result in VCT teams tying up with content creators to co-stream VCT events. According to the report by Alejandro "Anonimotum" Gomis, teams would receive up to $400,000 in monetary compensation if they achieved all the goals and reached the metrics. The VALORANT Champions Tour has four regions with twelves teams each and for 48 teams, this amount was a staggering $19,200,000. This is the maximum amount teams would earn if they completed all goals and accomplished the metrics. 

The VALROANT esports circuit comes to an end for this year with the VCT Champs in Seoul 2024. Teams were informed about the potential changes in the last week of the regular season. For many VCT teams, this meant they were in for a rude shock as some had already signed agreements with co-streamers and content creators. 

All is not lost for VCT teams as there are many other ways of monetizing VALORANT esports. EMEA teams receive around $300,000 as per the report just for participating in the League. Furthermore, Riot has also onboarded teams for digital asset sales which could result in another additional revenue source. The Champion Bundle is currently on sale in the VALORANT client. 

The Champion Skin sales break up into 60 parts for the 48 teams. This includes one part each for the 44 teams and an additional part for the 16 teams that qualified for VCT Champs 2024. The VCT Champs 2024 is currently underway having kicked off on August 1. It will run for 25 days with the Grand Finals on the 25th of the month. This allows for an added incentive for teams to qualify for VCT Champs, wherein the qualification would lead to guaranteed additional monetary income.

It’s still not clear how big of an impact this move will have on teams’ investments into VALORANT and creating content around the game. The potential for higher revenue streams over the years is certainly something that we cannot ignore. However, the short notice is something that teams will have to contend with as they try to tide over the uncertainty of the initial years. 

Stay tuned to esports.gg for the latest VALORANT news and updates.