Chinese tournament organiser Hero Esports has announced the addition of a VALORANT tournament to its inaugural multi-title esports tournament, the Asian Champions League (ACL).
The competition will feature the top teams from Asia-Pacific, including China, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. The format, however, is yet to be revealed.
With VALORANT added to the ACL, the esports tournament has expanded its lineup to seven game titles, including Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, Honor of Kings, Teamfight Tactics, Delta Force and Crossfire.
Earlier last week, it was confirmed that the ACL CS2 tournament would give direct access to the Esports World Cup, which will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, later this summer. It’s unclear whether the VALORANT ACL tournament will be linked to the Esports World Cup’s qualification process.
The VALORANT esports circuit is currently operating in Thailand for the first international event of the 2025 VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT), VCT Masters Bangkok. The event features top teams from the four VCT Kickoff events (Pacific, China, EMEA and Americas).
What is the Asian Champions League?
The Asian Champions League is a multi-title esports tournament run by the Asia Champions League Foundation, a division within Hero Esports, one of the biggest tournament operators in Asia. The multi-esports competition is set to feature up to 10 esports game titles this year and feature a combined prize pool of 15m RMB (~£1.67m).
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Shanghai, Hero Esports received a $265m (~£219m) investment from Saudi Arabian esports and gaming company Savvy Games Group, which is fully owned by the Saudi Arabian government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF). On top of Hero Esports, Savvy Games Group has also bought ESL FACEIT for $1.5bn (~£1.1bn).
Jonny Wang, CEO of the Asian Champions League, said: “We are excited to announce the addition of VALORANT to the ACL. We hope that the ACL will evolve into a truly comprehensive tournament, providing a larger stage for players and teams across various competitions while delivering more exciting content for our audience.”
