Riot Games has announced significant changes to the Challengers Path to Champions for 2026, including previously announced Challengers slots and a complete overhaul to the Challengers SEA structure.

These changes were announced by Jake Sin, Head of VALORANT Esports for APAC, and Pablo Lee, Esports Product Manager for APAC earlier today in Bangkok.

Pacific Challengers Path to Champions

Four slots for Challengers teams towards Pacific Stage 2 Playoffs. (Image by Riot Games)

As announced earlier globally for the 2026 season, instead of Ascension, Challengers teams will now have the chance to compete for in the International Leagues' Stage 2 Playoffs, leading to Champions.

The Pacific region will have four slots: one each for the top teams from Southeast Asia, Japan, and Korea, and a fourth determined by a Last Chance Qualifier among South Asia, Oceania, and the 2nd and 3rd seeds from Southeast Asia. Teams reaching Stage 2 Playoffs will receive a USD 75,000 stipend. Academy teams can still participate but cannot qualify for Stage 2 Playoffs, and relegation protection will be removed for them in 2026, meaning they will have to defend their slots if they are at the bottom by the end of each split.

Further information of each region's Challengers format will be revealed on a later date.

Challengers Southeast Asia Updates

A new dynamic pathway for teams to qualify for the main event. (Image by Riot Games)

In addition, Challengers Southeast Asia will undergo a major restructure to their format for the 2026 season. Starting in 2026, Challengers SEA will pivot to a tournament model with local events funnelling into pan-regional matches over two splits.

The pipeline will start at the Local Qualifiers, which will feed into the Regional Qualifiers consisting of five subregions:

• Indonesia
• Thailand
• The Philippines
• Vietnam
• and the remaining Southeast Asian regions (Rest of SEA)

Academy teams and previous Challengers SEA teams will start at the Regional Qualifiers, which advances two teams from each to the main event of Challengers SEA. The Path to Pro will still continue into the 2026 season where two Premier teams will qualify for the main event regardless of their residency status.

The qualification system will repeat for each split.

Streaming Exclusivity Changes

Lastly, Riot also announced streaming exclusivity on the SOOP platform, which was a major discussion point for teams, talents, and viewers, will be completely lifted for 2026.

Riot pointed out that the exclusivity was a major pain point for all parties involved in this year's Challengers campaign, and will allow streaming from all viable platforms such as Twitch and Youtube, alongside working with local partners for further broadcast opportunities and arrangements.