VALORANT Champions 2025 is taking place in Paris, France. The top teams from all four regional VALORANT Champions Tour Leagues will be facing off in this tournament. The group stages of the tournament will take place from September 12th onwards. With this being the 5th iteration of the tournament, we have seen the Valorant Champions prize pool change every year. In this article, we take a look at the VALORANT Champions Prize Pool 2025 and its history.
| Event | Prize Pool | Bundle contributions (*) |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | $1 million | $7.5 million |
| 2022 | $1 million | $16 million |
| 2023 | $2.25 million | $20 million |
| 2024 | $2.25 million | $44.3 million |
| 2025 | $2.25 million | TBD |
* Skins bundle contributions above are based on public disclosures by Riot Games via social media and press releases. Actual final figures may vary.
VALORANT Champions 2025 will have one of the highest prize pools in VALORANT Esports history. The total prize pool of the tournament is $2.25 million. The team that wins this tournament will receive a guaranteed sum of $1 million. Alongside that, they will also receive a certain percentage of the net proceeds from the VALORANT Champions 2025 skin collection.
This has been the tradition for every single VALORANT Champions winner in the past as well as you will see Valorant Champions prize pool history below. Each team that qualifies for the VALORANT Champions tournament receives a certain percentage of the net proceeds that Riot Games makes from the skin bundle. The final figure for 2025 will be revealed after the event.
Below, let’s take a look at every VALORANT Champions winner and the prize pool during said international tournaments. All monetary figures quoted throughout the article are in USD.
Image credits: Riot Games
The first-ever VALORANT Champions tournament took place in 2021. This was during the pandemic era of VALORANT esports. The tournament was hosted at the Verti Music Hall in Berlin, Germany. The first VALORANT Champions winners were Ascend. Additionally, the VALORANT Champions tournament boasts a total prize pool of $1 million. The winners, Ascend, received a sum of $350,000, while the team in second, Gambit Esports, received $150,000.
Additionally, each team participating in the tournament would receive 3.12% of the total net proceeds from the Champions 2021 Skin Collection. According to Riot Games, as of December 8, 2021, the total revenue generated from the skin was over $15 million. Thus, it was reported that each team received over $469,000 through just the sale of the VALORANT Champions 2021 skin. This means that the winners of VALORANT Champions 2021, Ascend, received over $820,000 through just prize winnings from this tournament. The VALORANT Champions 2021 prize pool was one of the highest in history for the time.
| Place | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ascend | $350,000 |
| 2nd | Gambit Esports | $150,000 |
| 3rd | Team Liquid | $90,000 |
| 4th | KRÜ Esports | $90,000 |
| 5th | Team Secret | $40,000 |
| 6th | Cloud9 | $40,000 |
| 7th | X10 CRIT | $40,000 |
| 8th | FNATIC | $40,000 |
| 9th | Team Envy | $20,00 |
| 10th | Sentinels | $20,00 |
| 11th | Team Vikings | $20,00 |
| 12th | Vision Strikers | $20,00 |
| 13th | Keyd Stars | $20,000 |
| 14th | FURIA | $20,000 |
| 15th | Crazy Racoon | $20,000 |
| 16th | FULL SENSE | $20,000 |
Image credits: Riot Games
The second iteration of VALORANT Champions was held at the Volkswagen Arena in Istanbul, Turkey. Similar to VALORANT Champions 2021, the tournament had a prize pool of $1 million. The significant changes were in the sum each team won. LOUD were the winners of the tournament and received $300,000, while Optic Gaming in second received $150,000. DRX in 3rd place got $110,000, and FunPlus Phoenix received $80,000 for finishing in 4th place.
Similar to the previous year, teams that qualified for VALORANT Champions 2022 received 50% of the net proceeds from the VALORANT Champions 2022 skin collection. According to Riot Games, teams received a total contribution of over $16 million. Thus, each team that took part in the tournament received an additional $ 1 million to the prize pool they had won. Therefore, LOUD following VALORANT Champions 2022 received a prize sum of over $1.3 million.
| Place | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | LOUD | $300,000 |
| 2nd | OpTic Gaming | $150,000 |
| 3rd | DRX | $110,000 |
| 4th | FunPlus Phoenix | $80,000 |
| 5th | XSET | $60,000 |
| 6th | FNATIC | $60,000 |
| 7th | Leviatán | $40,000 |
| 8th | Team Liquid | $40,000 |
| 9th | Paper Rex | $25,000 |
| 10th | ZETA Division | $25,000 |
| 11th | KRÜ Esports | $25,000 |
| 12th | 100 Thieves | $25,000 |
| 13th | EDward Gaming | $15,000 |
| 14th | BOOM Esports | $15,000 |
| 15th | XERXIA | $15,000 |
| 16th | FURIA | $15,000 |
The third iteration of VALORANT Champions was held at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, USA. Unlike VALORANT Champions 2022, the tournament had an increased prize pool of $2.25 million. This was due to this tournament being the first in the VALORANT Partnership League. Evil Geniuses were the winners of the tournament and received $1,000,000, while Paper Rex, in second place, received $400,000. LOUD in 3rd place got $250,000, and Fnatic received $130,000 for finishing in 4th place.
Similar to the previous year, teams that qualified for VALORANT Champions 2023 received 50% of the net proceeds from the VALORANT Champions 2023 skin collection. According to Riot Games, teams received a total contribution of over $20 million. Thus, each team that took part in the tournament received an additional $ 1.25 million to the prize pool they had won. Therefore, Evil Geniuses, after winning VALORANT Champions 2023, received a prize sum of over $2.25 million.
| Place | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Evil Geniuses | $1,000,000 |
| 2nd | Paper Rex | $400,000 |
| 3rd | LOUD | $250,000 |
| 4th | FNATIC | $130,000 |
| 5th | DRX | $85,000 |
| 6th | EDward Gaming | $85,000 |
| 7th | FUT Esports | $50,000 |
| 8th | Bilibili Gaming | $50,000 |
| 9th | Giants | $30,000 |
| 10th | T1 | $30,000 |
| 11th | NRG | $30,000 |
| 12th | Natus Vincere | $30,000 |
| 13th | KRÜ Esports | $20,000 |
| 14th | FunPlus Phoenix | $20,000 |
| 15th | ZETA Division | $20,000 |
| 16th | Team Liquid | $20,000 |
Image credits: Riot Games
The fourth iteration of VALORANT Champions was held at the INSPIRE Arena in Seoul, South Korea. Similar to VALORANT Champions 2023, the tournament had a new prize pool of $2.25 million. EDward Gaming were the winners of the tournament and received $1,000,000, while Team Heretics, in second place, received $400,000. Leviatan in 3rd place got $250,000, and Sentinels received $130,000 for finishing in 4th place.
In the 2024 season, we witnessed a significant shift in the revenue-sharing model within the VALORANT Champions Tour. In the 2024 season, we saw teams receive their own unique skin bundle in the game. With this skin bundle, teams would receive a particular portion of the revenue generated by the purchase of the VCT Team Capsule. Additionally, 50% of the net proceeds from the VALORANT Champions 2024 skin collection will be shared among the 44 teams participating in the VCT 2024 season. The 50% net proceeds would be split into 60 parts. Each team in the VCT 2024 season would receive one part of the 60. Additionally, all 16 teams that qualify for VALORANT Champions 2024 would receive an additional part. While the total amount generated through the VALORANT Champions 2024 bundle is unknown, it was made public that Riot Games shared over $44.3 million among the 44 teams that took part in the VCT 2024 season.
| Place | Team | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | EDward Gaming | $1,000,000 |
| 2nd | Team Heretics | $400,000 |
| 3rd | Leviatán | $250,000 |
| 4th | Sentinels | $130,000 |
| 5th | DRX | $85,000 |
| 6th | FNATIC | $85,000 |
| 7th | Trace Esports | $50,000 |
| 8th | G2 Esports | $50,000 |
| 9th | KRÜ Esports | $30,000 |
| 10th | Gen.G Esports | $30,000 |
| 11th | Team Vitality | $30,000 |
| 12th | Paper Rex | $30,000 |
| 13th | Bilibili Gaming | $20,000 |
| 14th | FunPlus Phoenix | $20,000 |
| 15th | TALON | $20,000 |
| 16th | FUT Esports | $20,000 |
Featured image credits: EDward Gaming lifting the Valorant Champs trophy in 2024 – Riot Games/Colin Young-Wolff
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