VALORANT Champions 2026 heads to Shanghai – the first ever Champs in China

Riot Games has announced that VALORANT Champions 2026 will be held in Shanghai, China. It was previously revealed that VALORANT’s premier tournament would head to China next year, and now the host city has been confirmed.

VALORANT Champions 2026 the first ever in China

Capping off next year’s VALORANT Champions Tour, the Shanghai event will mark the first time that Champs has been held in the country. Previous years have seen the tournament hosted in Berlin, Istanbul, Los Angeles, and Seoul, while Paris is due to host VALORANT Champions 2025 later this year.

In the official announcement of the next host city, Riot pointed to last year’s Masters Shanghai as a factor in their decision, stating that the ‘unforgettable energy’ at the tournament, as well as its ‘record-setting viewership’ and ‘full city takeover’, showed that Shanghai ‘was ready to host the biggest event on the VCT calendar’.

The statement added that Riot is hoping that Champs 2026 will allow them to build on the momentum from Masters Shanghai, ‘embracing one of our fastest growing communities’.

‘VALORANT Champions 2026 in Shanghai will be more than just the final stop on a global tour. It will be the continuation of a story that started last year, when VCT CN launched and claimed a world championship in the same season. Fans packed arenas, city streets lit up with VALORANT activations, and Shanghai transformed into a living, breathing celebration of the game.

‘Now, we’re getting ready to bring the world back. Champions 2026 will deliver the highest level of VALORANT competition while once again spotlighting the passion of VCT CN’s home crowd. These are the fans who rallied behind hometown heroes like Edward Gaming, Wolves and other rising teams.

‘This is the biggest event on the VCT calendar. This is where history is born. This is Champions.’

End of the first VCT cycle

VALORANT Champions Shanghai will bring to a close the first four-year cycle of the VALORANT Champions Tour. This will mark the end of the current VCT partnership agreements and will allow Riot the opportunity to make significant changes to the circuit if deemed necessary.

In a dev update back in March, Leo Faria, Global Head of VALORANT Esports, already hinted at changes to the scene, expressing a desire to see “more openness” between tier one and tier two competition — something also hinted at in a prior Reddit comment that promised to “attract investment and increase the stakes of Challengers”.

He also called for more “ecosystem moments”, a nod at a potential increase in offline events that would “create more moments like that, especially at a regional level”.