Riot Games Shares Off-Season Plans for VALORANT, Announces Project Blender

With the midpoint of the 2025 VALORANT season behind us, Riot Games has unveiled its plans for the upcoming off-season following the conclusion of Champions 2025. Among the highlights is the introduction of a new initiative called Project Blender, along with a number of other exciting events.

Champions 2025, the most important tournament of the year, will take place in Paris from September 12 to October 5, featuring the 16 best teams in the world. After this event, a long off-season will begin — and this year, it comes with something fresh. The main novelty is Project Blender — a tournament hosted in the European region that will be open to all teams, regardless of skill level. Registration will be open, but participation will be capped at 1,024 registered teams.

In addition, the off-season will include the usual events such as:

Ascension tournaments, which will determine which teams join the VCT or retain their slots.
The Game Changers World Championship.
Other off-season competitions, some of which have already been announced — including Red Bull Home Ground and the SOOP VALORANT League Pacific.

The Ascension tournaments and other off-season events are set to kick off in October, immediately following Champions, and will run through January–February 2026, when the new VALORANT Champions Tour season is expected to begin.