VCT Game Changers NA is back–Here’s the lowdown

VCT Game Changers is an initiative which has helped showcased the talents and skills of female and non-binary players around the world. The VCT Game Changers circuit in 2022 saw a North American team, Shopify Rebellion, as one of the grand finalists at the international VCT Game Changers Championship in Berlin.

With the off-season finally concluding and NA's most dominant team, C9 White, disbanding, the upcoming season promises new contenders for the crown.

Here's everything you need to know about VCT Game Changers NA 2023!

The official tournament tournament organizer for the Verizon VCT Game Changers 2023 season is Knights Arena. Knights Arena has hosted many successful VALORANT tournaments for women and non-binary players, and is committed to creating a space that helps support and foster North American talent.

The season will have three tournaments during the regular season: Game Changers Series I, II, and III. All of these events will commence with Open Qualifiers which will lead into the Main event. In the Open Qualifier,  teams will battle in a GSL Group format to determine the top 8 remaining teams.

These top 8 teams from the Open Qualifier will advance to the Main Event, a double-elimination bracket with all matches being a best-of-three. The Main Event finals will be a best-of-five.

Teams will have the opportunity to earn points for the 2023 Game Changers World Championship qualification. There will be a total of 410 points available for the top 16 placed teams throughout each Game Changer Series. This is the Point Distribution:

1st Place: 20% or 80 points
2nd Place: 15% or 60 points
3rd Place: 12% or 50 points
4th Place: 10% or 40 points
5th - 6th Place: 7% or 30 points
7th - 8th Place: 5% or 20 points
9th - 16th Place: 2% or 10 points

Finally, the 2023 Game Changers rank requirement to participate in competition has been increased from Platinum to Ascendant.

Registrations for the Game Changers Series I opens on March 21, and you can register your team at this link. Here's the complete schedule for the season:

GAME CHANGERS SERIES I OPEN QUALIFIER
April 4-6

GAME CHANGERS SERIES I MAIN EVENT
April 7, April 11-14

GAME CHANGERS SERIES II OPEN QUALIFIER
July 13-16

GAME CHANGERS SERIES II MAIN EVENT
July 26-30

GAME CHANGERS SERIES III OPEN QUALIFIER
September 28-October 1

GAME CHANGERS SERIES III MAIN EVENT
October 4-8

Riot Games has partnered with AnyKey, a non-profit organization that supports diversity, inclusion, and equity in esports and gaming, to help establish and improve best practices, rules, and guidelines for player eligibility. The new verification process has been designed based on feedback from the VCT NA Game Changers Community. It aims to be inclusive while also maintaining the competitive integrity of the Game Changers tournament space.

Players will begin the eligibility verification process by filling out a form that allows them to select from several different options to provide evidence of their identity. Options will include providing a photo ID with a gender/sex marker, an affirming doctor’s note, or a well-established social media account with a public track record of that player’s identity.

Alternatively, players can choose to verify through a voice chat with AnyKey staff.

All competitors will have to be verified through AnyKey’s verification system before participating in VCT NA Game Changers events regardless of their past verification status.

The VCT Game Changers Academy is now the Knight's Sakura cup. These are bi-monthly tournaments where players can showcase their skills and compete for prize pools upwards of $10,000. Furthermore, updates about the official Sakura Cup tournaments and how you can register for them will be released in the future at twitter.com/KnightsArena.

With C9 White disbanding and new teams like Version1 forming out of the remains, the new season promises to be competitive and fun.

Keep watching Esports.gg for more VCT news and notes.