According to a report by Sheep Esports, Riot Games is planning to reduce part of its incentive program for VCT international league teams. Specifically those related to content creation, and will instead focus on boosting revenue through in-game cosmetic sales.
VCT teams benefit from various revenue streams provided by Riot Games, as the developer’s selected representatives in its four international leagues. These streams include a fixed stipend, an incentive structure, and a share of profits from sales of their team-specific cosmetic bundles and the Valorant Champions bundle.
Previously, part of the incentive structure was tied to the viewership of a team’s VCT content and co-streams. This motivated teams to sign content creators to co-stream their games and employ editors and designers to produce videos and social media content.
Since its inception, Valorant Esports has supported co-streamers, contributing to high viewership numbers.
Sheep Esports reported that the maximum payout a team could earn by achieving Riot Games’ content goals was $400,000. Riot Games mentioned to Sheep Esports that it updates the payment structure for VCT annually. The focus for 2025 will be on in-game item sales.
“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,” a Riot spokesperson stated.
However, some VCT teams are reportedly dissatisfied with the short notice of this change and are concerned despite Riot’s assurance that the overall financial outcome will be balanced next year, even without the $400,000 content incentives.
Riot Games has not disclosed global or per-team sales figures for the VCT cosmetic bundles but has released a list of top-selling VCT team bundles for the season, with Sentinels, Paper Rex, Fnatic, and EDward Gaming leading across the four regions.
The effect of this shift on co-streamers and content creation staff for these organizations is uncertain. Esports organizations are emerging from a period of layoffs, with numerous workers losing their jobs due to slowed external investment and ongoing profit challenges.
