VALORANT officially becomes part of the Esports World Cup alongside LoL and TFT

The Esports World Cup is steadily finalizing its full games lineup for the 2025 event, with the majority now seemingly confirmed. Today, three more titles from Riot Games have been added, including two returning from last year — League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics — alongside a surprising new entrant: VALORANT.

In 2024, nearly every major esport was represented in the competition in some capacity, yet one notable absence stood out — VALORANT. As one of the world’s most popular esports, its exclusion from the Esports World Cup felt like a missed opportunity, with many fans advocating for its inclusion. However, due to an already packed regular season for top teams, scheduling conflicts prevented its participation in the 2024 event, leading many to believe history would repeat itself this year.

However, through collaboration with Riot Games, the Esports World CupFoundation has successfully secured VALORANT for this year’s tournament. The world’s top VALORANT teamswill temporarily step away from the VALORANT Champions Tour to compete in Riyadh, reinforcing the event’s status as a gathering of the best games and players in the industry.

"The EWC was created to showcase the best games, so adding Valorant to the line up alongside LoL and TFT is a natural progression and something we believe elevates the tournament for players, Clubs and fans,"

said Fabian Scheuermann, Chief Games Officer at the Esports World Cup Foundation.

"Riot has built extremely strong ecosystems around all three games, a major factor for inclusion in the EWC, and is one of the largest contributors to esports and gaming culture overall."