Head of VCT claims format will never be ‘perfect’ amid players' woes
Heading into Masters Tokyo back in May, VALORANT's elite players voiced their concerns about the VCT 2023 format.
Teams on both ends of the spectrum in the VCT have conflicting views; those at the top of the mountain have expressed exhaustion and burnout woes; those at the middle of the pack and lower, who have missed out on Masters and LCQ qualifications, have criticised the format for not having enough action in a partnership league.
With Champions nearing completion, Riot Games has now announced the VCT 2024 format, and despite some changes and tinkers to the Ascension route and lower-tier leagues, pros have continued to openly criticise the format.
Head of VALORANT Esports claims 'there is no perfect answer' to the VCT format
Click to enlargeWith the open critiques spilling online, including Fnatic's Timofey "Chronicle" Khromov saying "I guess they want to troll people with this schedule, no rest for 7 months AGAIN," Riot Games has now defended its decision on the schedule, claiming that the that they can't please everyone.
Head of VALORANT Esports, Leo Faria, opened up to GGRecon in a Champions Press Conference, saying, "We have a lot of action going on from January to August, but then we have a longer off-season to compensate.
The big challenge is that we're always going to have the best teams complain more and give us feedback that 'the calendar's too packed and that they have no time to rest,' and the teams that don't qualify for global events saying 'the calendar's not enough, we don't have the opportunity to play, my season ends too early, and we cannot plan the season'," he said.
Faria continued to say that the format is designed to promote the best teams in the world.
"We're not sitting around saying 'what we're going to do for the teams that don't qualify for champions', we're thinking about how we're going to put the best teams in the world more in evidence and give them a bigger stage, more opportunities to play. So it's always gonna be a challenge. The reality is there's no perfect answer," he added.
Head of VALORANT Esports will continue to 'listen to pros' for VCT format tweaks
Although there has been a wealth of similar expressions and continuous voicing of the same problems since Tokyo and going into the 2024 circuit, Faria defended their 2024 plans but did say Riot will have ears on the ground to see how it can listen to players and fans for future seasons.
"We're gonna continue listening to pros, listening to teams, listening to fans, and learning. We're happy with how things are right now," Faria said.
The VCT 2023 circuit is now culminating into an all-time classic climax with four extraordinary teams left, as Champions could crown underdogs or dynasties and round off what has been a breathtaking season, in more senses than just excitement...
