Members of the affiliate program will receive up to $1.5 million from Riot Games

According to Dexerto, Riot Games will offer partner teams in the new VALORANT Franchise League up to $1.5 million in annual stipends. Currently, developers continue to interview potential candidates to assess their perspective and business model.

The interview phase of the VALORANT Partner Program is slowly coming to an end, and along with this, organizations have learned a lot of new information, including the amount of money they will receive annually from Riot Games if they are accepted into the program.

According to sources, the estimated scholarship amount will vary by region, but will at least be in the order of $1 million. Organizations that fall into the partner league in the EMEA region will receive an estimated scholarship in the range of $1 million to $1.5 million. According to others sources, US teams will be entitled to the same amount, and even more. Meanwhile, Asian partners will receive slightly less due to the region's lower operating costs compared to Europe and America.

Recall that in April, Riot Games announced that it was launching an affiliate program for VALORANT in early 2023, replacing the open system with an open one. In the international leagues of Europe, Asia and America, the new system provides that partner teams selected by the developers receive an annual stipend to cover operating costs. This is a departure from the traditional franchise model like the Overwatch League, Call of Duty League or LCS and LEC where organizations have to pay a fixed buy-in fee.

Currently, the partner program interview process is still ongoing across all three regions, and Riot Games is expected to make a decision on the teams that will compete next season ahead of VALORANT Champions, which will take place later in the year in Istanbul.

The base location of the European league has yet to be determined, but the two candidates to host the championship are Berlin and Barcelona. Los Angeles is expected to host the American League and Seoul is expected to host the Asian League.