Team Secret and RRQ Philippines selected as partner teams for VCT Pacific League 2023

Riot Games announced the inclusion of Filipino squads Team Secret and RRQ Philippines as two of ten partner teams for the upcoming Valorant Champions Tour (VCT): Pacific League 2023, where they will battle it out against the best teams in Asia for a place at Valorant's global tournaments.

The VCT Pacific League is part of three newly established leagues that features "partner teams" who were given franchise slots after passing the selection process set by the Riot Games.

Team Secret is one of the prominent Filipino teams in the Valorant competitive scene, taking the championship during the VCT 2022: Philippines Stage 2 Challengers and finishing third during the VCT 2022: APAC Stage 2 Challengers.

They also placed 5th-8th during last year's Valorant Champions, the game's version of the world championship, in Berlin, Germany.

RRQ PH, meanwhile, finished 9th-12th during the VCT 2022: APAC Stage 2 Challengers but took the championship during this month's Predator League 2022 - Philippines.

Non-partner teams who hope to participate in future international league stagings will need to go through challenger tournaments.

More than 20 challenger leagues will be launched around the world in 2023. They will feature open qualifiers and provide an avenue for teams to participate in the international league and global tournaments.

The challenger leagues will be split into three regions, namely: Americas, EMEA, and Pacific. It will also introduce the Challenger Ascension tournaments where winners of three iterations will earn a berth into the following year's international league.

Starting 2023, the international leagues will welcome one new team until hitting a cap of 14 teams in 2027.

—MGP, GMA News