Asian Champions League (ACL) – Tournaments, Schedule, and Venues

This is everything you need to know about the Asian Champions League (ACL), the largest Asian multi-title event organized by Hero Esports.

Asian Champions League Kicks Off, features nine Esports Titles

Run by the Asia Champions League Foundation, a division within Hero Esports, the competition will have competitions across nine esports titles and a combined prize pool of 15M RMB (€1.84M).

The best teams across Asia will be competing for glory, and some of the tournaments will serve as a direct qualification path to the Esports World Cup (EWC), which will take place later this summer in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here is all the key information for each competition, ranging from the format to the schedule, prizepool, and venues.

Asian Champions League 2025 Tournaments

League of Legends Legend Cup Season 3

With professional teams competing in their respective Spring Splits and the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational, the League of Legends tournament for the ACL will be featuring former pros in what is known as the HUYA Legend Cup (LGC). The tournament will feature two conferences of eight teams in China and South Korea.

The top three from each conference will then head to the Conference Showdown on May 17, meaning that six teams will be competing for the title and the 1M RMB (€123,057) prize pool. The format will have a single Bo9 played with Fearless Draft. In the first three matches, all three teams from each conference must play one team each. In the following rounds, each conference can choose a team of their choice, as long as they don’t play back-to-back games. If the series goes to the last game, the decisive round will feature Blind Pick with no restrictions.

Counter-Strike 2

The CS2 event will be taking place from May 6 to May 16, featuring four invited teams based on the VRS Asia from February, as well as four teams from the Closed qualifiers. The winner of the tournament will automatically qualify for the Esports World Cup later this summer.

Dota 2

The Dota 2 tournament already took place from May 1 to May 3, serving as the qualifier for both the ACL Grand Finals and the DreamLeague Season 26.

The top four teams (Xtreme Gaming, Yakult Brothers, Excel Esports, Team Tidebound) will be competing for the Esports World Cup slot on May 16, in a final day that saw tickets being sold out in just 52 seconds.

Honor of Kings

Given its popularity in the Asian region, the Honor of Kings (HoK) tournament kicks off on May 12 and will see teams compete for a direct qualification to the EWC.

Eight teams, based on their standings from the 2025 KPL Spring Split Round 3, will battle on May 5, 6, and 13 for the sole Knockout stage spot.

From May 14 until May 16, the qualifier winner will face the KPL Spring Playoff 3rd to 5th place teams. The winner of the Knockout bracket will then challenge the 2025 KPL Spring Runner-Up on May 18 for the ACL Championship and EWC qualification.

Street Fighter 6

Held on May 17 and May 18, the Street Fighter 6 (SF6) tournament will feature eight players competing for two spots at the Esports World Cup. However, the eight participants and respective teams are yet to be confirmed.

Teamfight Tactics

The TFT Asia Challenge kicks off on May 8, featuring the top four teams from the APAC Qualifier and the CN Qualifier. The top three of each qualifier have already secured their EWC spot, while 4th and 5th will be competing for the EWC Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ).

The ACL TFT tournament will be introducing a new 4v4 team format, offering a new perspective for the fans. The Grand Finals will see the top three teams compete for the title.

VALORANT

For VALORANT, there will be two separate ACL tournaments. The first one will be the VALORANT China Evolution Series Act 2. From May 8 to 12, the 12 squads from VCT CN will be competing for two spots at the upcoming Esports World Cup. 

The second one will see the top three from VCT CN and VCT Pacific compete from May 14 to May 18, with the winner taking a $50,000 (€44,466) prize pool plus a $10,000 (€8,893) bounty per match won (if a lower-seeded team wins a higher one, an extra $10,000 bounty is added).

Delta Force

The Delta Force ACL tournament will feature the top teams from China, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand square off in a massive 20vs20 battle format, using a best-of-three series with a double-elimination bracket.

The first game’s sides will be decided by a referee draw, and then the teams will switch sides for the second game. In case of a third round, the map selection or side selection will be decided based on the criteria taken from the two previous games.

CrossFire

Taking place on May 16 and May 17, the ACL CrossFire tournament will feature eight teams (four from the Chinese League, two from the Vietnamese League, and two invited teams) competing for a single spot in the EWC.

The format will consist of a single elimination bracket of Bo3 matches, except the Grand Final, which will be Bo5. On top of the qualification to the EWC, the winner will take a $40,000 (€35,542) cash prize.

Where to buy the Asian Champions League tickets

Tickets for the ACL can be bought via Damai, Maoyan, Alipay, and Tongcheng Travel. Each of the three venues offers tiered pricing, with Jing’an Sports Center matches being sold exclusively on Tongcheng Travel.

ACL 2025 Grand Finals Schedule

With the ACL taking place across three venues, here is the full schedule for all the offline matches for each game title:

Shanghai Pudong Bank Oriental Sports Center

• May 16 – 14:10: CS2 3rd Place Match, Exhibition Match, Opening Ceremony, Grand Final
• May 17 – 14:00: LoL Legends Cup Opening Show, Grand Finals (G1–G3), Mid-Show, Finals Continue (G4–G9)
• May 18 – 16:30: Honor of Kings Opening Ceremony & Grand Final

Shanghai Jing’an Sports Center

• May 16 – 12:00: CrossFire Quarterfinals
• May 17 – 12:00: CrossFire Semifinals 1 & 2, Grand Final
• May 18 – 13:00: VALORANT Show Match + Grand Final

National Exhibition and Convention Center (Halls 1.2–2.2)

• May 16 – 11:00 (Esports Stage): DOTA2 Semifinals + Grand Final
• May 17 – 10:00 (Esports Stage): Delta Force Double-Elimination + Winners’ Final
• May 17 – 11:00 (LAN Party): Street Fighter 6 Elimination Matches
• May 17 – 17:30 (Esports Stage): TFT Losers’ Final
• May 18 – 10:00 (Esports Stage): TFT Grand Final
• May 18 – 11:00 (LAN Party): Street Fighter 6 Top 8
• May 18 – 15:00 (Main Stage): Street Fighter 6 Winners’ Final, Losers’ Final, Grand Final
• May 18 – 15:30 (Esports Stage): Delta Force Losers’ Final + Grand Final