Riot Games has revealed some details about the first international Valorant Esports event of 2024, VCT Masters Madrid.
The 2023 season saw VCT competition head to Brazil, Japan, and the United States. For 2024, Riot Games previously announced that Valorant esports international events will be held in Spain and Shanghai.
Both events will be VCT Masters tournaments and will see the best teams from the four international VCT leagues go head to head. So far, fans only know a little about the events, like how teams will qualify and how many spots are up for grabs. Valorant Champions 2024 has not been announced at the time of writing and no information about the world championship has been reported so far.
In a 2023 VCT season round-up, Global Head of Valorant Esports Leo Faria revealed a little more information about Masters Madrid.
VCT masters Madrid start date revealed
The first Valorant event in Spain will kick off on March 8. Teams will qualify for the event via their respective league’s kickoff tournaments. VCT Americas will start its tournament on February 16, followed by VCT Pacific on February 17, then VCT EMEA on the 20th, and VCT China on the 22nd.
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Only two teams from each league will qualify for the tournament as there are only eight slots at the first Masters event of the year in 2024. This event will also see a “fresh new format” that will have a Swiss Stage that leads into a double-elimination format.
Another goal for 2024 is to design a season with better progression, where the stakes and scale of competitions increase as we go deeper into the calendar. We loved starting 2023 with a tournament and want to make that an evergreen part of the sport moving forward. Starting on… pic.twitter.com/YweZPPkonT
— Leo Faria (@lhfaria) December 11, 2023
“We’re obviously thrilled to bring a global event to Spain for the first time,” Faria said on social media.
The tournament will conclude on Match 24 and be held in the Madrid Arena, according to Faria. The venue has a maximum capacity of over 10,000 people and traditionally operates as a professional tennis and basketball court.