VALORANT Game Changers NA to hold first live LAN final

Riot Games will stage the VALORANT Game Changers NA Stage 2 Finals as a live LAN at the Riot Games Arena in Los Angeles on Sept. 17, 2026. The region’s top two teams will compete before a studio audience. It is the first time the circuit’s finals will be held in a live venue.

Stage 2 begins with online play. A double-elimination bracket opens on Sept. 1 and the remote portion concludes with a best-of-five Lower Bracket Final on Sept. 9. Open Qualifiers are underway, with Open Qualifier #4 scheduled for June 30.

Sixteen teams advancing from the open qualifiers and the Stage 1 Main Event will enter a seven-round Swiss Stage. The Swiss Stage will determine the eight teams that reach the Main Event and compete for the live final berth.

Riot confirmed commercial partners for the live show. Verizon will return as the official 5G and wireless services provider for the VALORANT Champions Tour. Red Bull will remain the official energy drink partner and will present the Clutch Moment broadcast segment. Secretlab has been named the official chair supplier for competing athletes.

Raidiant, a women-led event company, will handle tournament operations and the broadcast for Stage 2. During overlapping match days on Sept. 1–2, Raidiant will run an observer-only secondary stream on its Twitch channel while the primary feed airs on the VALORANT Americas Twitch and YouTube channels.

Teams in contention to reach the live final include Stage 1 champions SwimTrek Blue, 2025 North American champions Shopify Rebellion Gold, and FlyQuest RED. The live final will be the first in-person final for the North American Game Changers circuit.

In 2025, the closure of ESL Impact removed a competition platform for women’s esports. Activities in 2026 include a partnership between L’Oréal Paris and FURIA’s women’s Counter-Strike 2 roster for an activation; the Rainhas do Clutch tournament expanding internationally under the Rio de Janeiro Esports Federation; and the launch of Brace 4 Impact in the United States with operational backing from the ESL FACEIT Group.

Several established organisations continue to field and support women’s rosters. MIBR and Team Liquid maintain active women’s teams, G2 Hel returned to competition with support from McDonald’s, and the Portuguese Football Federation announced a women’s EA FC league sponsored by bank BPI.