Riot Games is planning a series of changes to the way they distribute money to teams currently competing in the VCT. - Valorant's global competitive scene - around the world. According to close sources, among these changes is the complete elimination of the “incentive program” related to content creation, co-streams, and overall content involving VCT teams. The incentive program encourages teams to create content on various social media platforms and co-streams.

If teams met certain goals, objectives, and metrics (such as co-stream viewership), they would receive varying amounts of money based on their impact and achieved goals. This could therefore amount to around $400,000 each VCT team. If we add approximately $400,000 for each VCT team (4 VCTs x 12 teams each), it would result in up to $19,200,000 less distributed through the incentive program (in case all teams had met the objectives and goals of the incentive program).

Teams were informed about this potential change for 2025 during the last week of the regular season, meaning some had already approved their long-term budgets based on this income. The elimination of this $400,000 without notice leaves therefore some teams in a somewhat delicate situation. The vast majority of these teams had signed content creators and different jobs related to content creation such as video and image editors to multi-year contracts, based on the assumption that Riot’s support for content creation would continue as part of the VCT, as initially thought. Despite the elimination of this $400,000, it is expected that teams will still be required to create content without receiving financial support for it, although the required minimums are anticipated to be lower than in previous years.

Other ways of supporting teams

VCT teams have other streams of income from Riot. In the case of EMEA, which is similar across all four VCT regions, teams received around $300,000 (depending on the year, league, and other factors). This money was given to all teams simply for participating in the league. In addition to this $300,000, Riot guaranteed another $300,000 to each team related to digital cosmetic sales, such as champion skins, though this is separate from each team’s personal Skin Bundle.

This last amount could increase if the sales of these cosmetics are high. In the case of the sell of Champion Skin, Global Head of Valorant Esports, Leo Faria recently confirmed that 50% of the sales are divided into 60 parts, with the 44 clubs receiving one part each and the 16 qualified clubs receiving an extra part, thus receiving twice as much as the non-qualified teams. With the end of the incentive program, the fixed $300,000 each team gets from digital cosmetic sales is planned to be increased to a fixed $400,000.

New Classic VCT skins in 2025

Besides these forms of support from Riot Games to league participants, there’s also the sale of each team’s Skin Bundle, which includes the classic skin, player card, and other items in the pack. Additionally, teams that qualify for an international tournament like Masters or Champions receive extra money as an incentive for their sporting success.

Sources close to Sheep Esports confirm that in 2025, there will be a new Classic weapon skin for all the 48 VCT teams. Sources indicated that it seems the VCT Classic 2025 skin could be an upgrade of each team's 2024 skin and that the upgrade will be available for purchase directly next year in case you don't have the 2024 skin. There will also be a new player card released alongside the Classic skin.

Fans are key

From Sheep Esports, we contacted Riot Games, and they made the following comment: “We adjust the team payment structure every year. Going into 2025, we’re putting a bigger focus on digital items, since those are performing incredibly well thanks to the generosity of our fans. All in all, we expect significant growth in the total amount of money paid to teams by Riot, continuing the growth trajectory from the past three years.”

According to sources close to VCT teams in various regions, a large group of these teams are unhappy with these changes, primarily due to the timing and the short notice with which this change was communicated. While they were informed that it could be positive for the teams in the long run, many sources close to the teams believe that removing a guaranteed $400k (if requirements were met) for a "we think it will do well" approach is not beneficial. On the other hand, a smaller group of teams, with sources close to Sheep Esports, believe that their payout at the end of the 2025 season will be somewhat similar to what they will receive in 2024 if the estimates are correct.