On Nov. 18, 2025, Talon Esports released a statement on X announcing its departure from the competitive Valorant scene as the organization faces financial challenges. Riot Games announced this decision on the same day, stating that Talon had failed to manage its team in accordance with league standards.

Riot Games’ announcement revealed that Talon had failed to pay its players on time, which led to the former working with the organization for over a month; however, Talon was still unable to meet the standards to continue being a Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) partner.

According to Riot Games, it has already sent invitations to teams in Asia-Pacific (APAC) to be a part of a selective competitive application process to replace the vacant spot. Talon, on the other hand, has completely stepped away from Valorant esports.

Talon added that one of its goals is to make sure that its current Valorant roster will be able to play as a team under another organization. The organization’s statement also said that they were confident the matters could be resolved, but they also understand and respect the decision Riot made.

The organization’s Valorant roster is a strong contender in the APAC, placing third at VTC 2025: Pacific Stage 2 and second at Ten Valorant Asia Invitational 2024.

On Nov. 16, 2025, G2 completely stomped the Valorant Champions 2025 winners, NRG, in the grand final of the Red Bull Home Ground 2025 tournament, taking the title with a 3-0 victory, as well as the $50,000 grand prize.

While G2 looked untouchable in the grand final, the team fell to the lower bracket early in the tournament after losing to Zeta Division in a best-of-one series in the upper bracket quarter finals.

This led to G2 clawing their way from the lower bracket of the tournament, fighting teams such as Cloud9, Sentinels and the Valorant Champions 2025 runner-ups, Fnatic. Then, they had a chance to redeem themselves by clashing with Zeta Division once more in the lower bracket final. This time, they showed their dominance, not even letting the Japanese team score more than five rounds in the two maps that they played: Sunset and Split.

G2 continued their dominance in the grand final, where they beat NRG 3-0. The closest NRG got to beating G2 was in the first map, Corrode, where they were able to score 10 rounds, but it was downhill after that. The second map, Split, was a one-sided affair for G2, as NRG only scored four rounds.

Valorant’s next major tournament is the S-tier Valorant Game Changers Championship 2025, which starts on Nov. 20, 2025, in Seoul, South Korea.

NRG managed to shut down Fnatic’s comeback at Valorant Champions 2025, winning the series 3-2. This was the second time the two teams faced each other in the tournament, with NRG taking the first meeting in the upper bracket final 2-0.

Fnatic’s hopes and dreams could have evaporated after NRG took the first two games convincingly in the grand final of Valorant Champions 2025. However, the players, led by Jake “Boaster” Howlett, had other ideas.

Faced with an 11-0 half in favor of NRG in Abyss, Fnatic managed to force the map to overtime by essentially doing the same thing to NRG. This eventually led to Fnatic closing the map 15-13, staying alive in the series.

Map four was in Ascent, and Fnatic showed in this map that its previous win was not a fluke. After taking six rounds in the first half, Fnatic shut down NRG and won its map pick 13-8.

The deciding map was Sunset, which would mark the end of Fnatic’s furious comeback and dreams of lifting the Valorant Champions 2025 trophy. While they took the first two rounds of both halves, NRG dominated them, showing glimpses of the kind of team they were in maps one and two. Sunset ended in a 13-5 fashion in favor of NRG.

Valorant Champions 2025 was NRG’s first S-tier win. The team received $1 million for its victory.

Valorant’s next S-tier tournament will be the Valorant Game Changers Championship 2025 on Nov. 20 at the LoL Park in South Korea.

Valorant Champions 2025 tournament opened on Sept. 12, 2025, at the Accor Arena in Paris, France.

Also referred to as VCT Champions 2025, the crowning event of the Valorant esports calendar will run on Oct. 5, 2025.

The event will feature a group stage (Sept 12 – 22, 2025) followed by playoffs (Sept 25th – Oct 5, 2025), with a total prize pool of $2,250,000.

All matches of VCT Champions 2025 tournament will be best of three, excluding the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final, which will be best of five.

The 16 teams participating in Valorant Champions 2025 are G2 Esports, Sentinels, NRG, MIBR, Team Liquid, Fnatic, Team Heretics, GIANTX, Bilibili Gaming, Edward Gaming, XLG Esports, Dragon Ranger Gaming, Paper Rex, Rex Regum Qeon, T1, and DRX.

The Valorant Champions 2025 Collection will launch on Sep 4, 2025, featuring multiple cosmetics, as was announced by Riot Games on Aug 30, 2025, via a post on the official Valorant Esports website.

Riot Games emphasizes that 50% of net proceeds from the collection sales will go directly to the Valorant Champions 2025 teams, supporting the growth of the competitive Valorant esports scene. Notably, in 2024, esports bundles raised over $40 million for partnered teams.

Valorant‘s Champions 2025 Collection includes a revamped Vandal and a Butterfly Knife. The Vandal now comes with Champion’s Aura, a glowing red outline that turns gold with each kill, and a Hot Streak mechanic that temporarily transforms the weapon into full gold. Players can also trigger a cinematic Custom Finisher, which continues with the “Paint the World” effect that leaves golden marks on the map.

The Butterfly Knife also gets a glow-based aura, Hot Streak mechanic, and brand-new animations and effects. Completing the bundle are themed accessories, including a trophy-inspired Flex, a bold gold-and-black Gun Buddy, a collectible player card, and a celebratory spray.

Valorant Champions 2025 (also known as VCT Champions), the crowning event of the Valorant esports calendar, is scheduled to take place from September 12 to October 5, 2025, at the Accor Arena in Paris, France.

The event will feature a group stage followed by playoffs, with a total prize pool of $2,250,000. All matches of VCT Champions 2025 tournament will be best of three, excluding the Lower Bracket Final and Grand Final, which will be best of five.

The 16 teams participating in Valorant Champions 2025 are G2 Esports, Sentinels, NRG, MIBR, Team Liquid, Fnatic, Team Heretics, GIANTX, Bilibili Gaming, Edward Gaming, XLG Esports, Dragon Ranger Gaming, Paper Rex, Rex Regum Qeon, T1, and DRX.

Team Heretics finally broke free from its second-place curse by crushing a confident Fnatic in the grand final of the Esports World Cup 2025 Valorant tournament. The win came from a disastrous 0-2 start, turned around through sheer perseverance and smart gameplay.

Fnatic had Team Heretics searching for answers in the first half of the grand final as Fnatic won game 1 with a score of 13-4 and game 2 in a 13-1 fashion. The next map was Icebox, widely considered one of Fnatic’s best maps.

However, Team Heretics were able to beat Fnatic, forcing them to play another game in Haven this time. Heretics were pretty shaky in the first half of the map, ending it with a 9-3 score in favor of Fnatic.

This only brought out Heretics’ A-game, and they were able to win 10 rounds after the side switch to take the map and the trophy away from Fnatic’s hands, completely swinging the momentum to their side. The decider map, Ascent, was a similar story. Fnatic led before the side switch, and somehow, Heretics found a way to close out the map with the lead.

Team Heretics’ EWC 2025 win marks their first huge win in Valorant. They often finished in second place at different masters tournaments, losing to other prominent teams, such as EDG and Gen.G.

On June 26, 2025, Riot Games published a press release announcing that the company is allowing esports betting brands to pursue a partnership with teams in tier 1 esports. According to the company, this move will make the esports scene of League of Legends and Valorant a lot more sustainable.

Riot Games added that the program will support the growth of tier-2 esports teams. “A portion of Riot’s revenues earned from the sports betting program will be invested back into Tier 2,” the press release said. The investment will increase prize pools in tournaments, develop additional integrity systems and expand training and education programs for partner tournament operators and aspiring pros.

The company also announced that it is putting sufficient guardrails in place to make sure that they safeguard the ecosystem it’s built and “position it for long-term success.” This includes vetting and approving esports betting companies before being able to pursue a partnership with the teams.

While the move is controversial, with people in the replies of the X post showing disapproval, Riot Games was prepared for this kind of reception. The company has also argued that esports betting has always existed in their game, and its decision to engage with it is much better than just leaving it unregulated.

Finally, Riot Games clarified that the main broadcast stream for both games will not be promoting betting sites. Esports jerseys will also be prohibited from having esports betting partner logos on them. 

Asia-Pacific team Paper Rex won the Valorant Masters Toronto with a 3-1 score over EMEA’s team Fnatic on June 22, 2025.

The final showdown between Paper Rex and Fnatic reached 1.104 million concurrent viewers, according to Esports Charts.

Paper Rex started the grand finals utilizing its veto advantage by banning Haven and Ascent, dragging Fnatic to Sunset. Despite Fnatic’s initial win in a pistol round on defense, Paper Rex managed to win eight rounds in a row on attack. After that, Fnatic held up well, secured another pistol round and even managed several wins with slow prodding across the map, but it wasn’t enough, and Paper Rex won Sunset with a 13-11 score.

Icebox was a tense battle with alternating success for each team, with Fnatic able to pull off the map with a 17-15 score and even out the match’s total board.

On Pearl, Fnatic dominated with a 7-5 score in the first half, but Paper Rex fought back in the second half, stealing the map with a 13-10 score.

In the final showdown on Lotus, Paper Rex smashed Fnatic with a 14-12 win, leading to a match’s total board of 3-1.

Jason “F0rsakeN” Susanto was awarded the Masters Toronto MVP title and bracelet after performing with a combined kill-death ratio of 81:75 and an average combat score (ACS) of 223 during the grand final.

Besides F0rsakeN, Paper Rex’s team also included Patrick “PatMen” Mendoza, Ilia “Something” Petrov, Khalish “D4v41” Rusyaidee and Wang “Jinggg” Jing Jie.

For claiming first place in the tournament, Paper Rex took home $350,000, while Fnatic received a prize of $200,000.

The Valorant Glitched Invitational tournament was announced along with an official partnership between Riot Games and the Swedish LAN festival Glitched on May 14, 2025.

Set for June 13-16, 2025, the inaugural Valorant Glitched event will be hosted in Jönköping, Sweden.

The competition will see eight teams fighting for a prize pool of about $9,000. While one spot goes to the finalists of Svenska Onlineligan, other participating teams are Havu, Bitfix, Wylde, Formulation, Metizport and Lilmix.

It is worth noting that the finals of the Valorant Glitched Invitational tournament will be broadcast on the Valorant Northern Europe Twitch channel.

Besides the main event during the Valorant Glitched Invitational, attendees can also take part in open tournaments for both Valorant and League of Legends, each featuring a prize pool of about $2,000. Also, beyond the competitions, Riot Games will set up a dedicated Valorant booth packed with activities, including free-for-all matches.

Riot Games is partnering with Coinbase for the Valorant and LoL Esports global events. Coinbase is now the exclusive cryptocurrency exchange and blockchain technology partner for the respective global esports events. The partnership begins with VCT Masters Toronto, a Canadian Valorant tournament starting on June 7. 

The partnership was marketed to “contribute a number of fan-facing enhancements including custom segments, event activations, hospitality promotions, and giveaways for VALORANT and LoL Esports fans, all to be integrated in future events.”

Coinbase also released a statement regarding the partnership, where it delves into further detail regarding the improvements and contributions. The statement markets free emotes and icons for viewers alongside a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip for two to Valorant Champions Tour or League of Legends Worlds. 

“It’s a partnership that will allow for future innovation in the sports partnership space, too,” Coinbase’s official statement reads. According to Riot’s statement, the partnership is planned to last for years to come. 

Coinbase is also partnered with the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association and esports organization Team Liquid. Coinbase was established in 2012 and is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms. More news regarding Coinbase can be found on Cointelegraph.