Riot Games has officially partnered with JioBLAST to run the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) 2027 Kickoff Open Qualifiers for the South Asia region.
Before that, NODWIN Gaming was in charge of running VALORANT tournaments in South Asia. They organised the local Challengers events and the paths teams took to reach VCT in past seasons. Riot, however, hasn’t officially confirmed why it made the switch.
Riot recently collaborated with JioBLAST, a joint venture between global esports tournament organiser BLAST, and RISE Worldwide Limited, for a grassroots initiative named VALORANT Campus Cup, a nationwide collegiate esports program for esports at higher education institutions in India. Given the evolution since their grassroots initiative, the VCT 2027 Kickoff project seems to be a next step in a growing relationship between Riot and JioBLAST for VALORANT.
On top of that, the VCT, the global Tier 1 esports circuit for VALORANT, is changing how it works. Riot is moving away from fixed regional leagues toward open, performance-based tournaments featuring more teams.
However, it’s worth noting that NODWIN has been running many VALORANT events in South Asia for several years, so this change doesn’t necessarily means an end to its role with the game in the region. The company has previously handled VALORANT Challengers South Asia (VCSA) league, along with Game Changers South Asia events, open qualifiers, LAN finals and related pathways that previously fed into Ascension and the Pacific circuit.
In fact, through at least 2026, NODWIN handled production, broadcasting, registration, and event management for these competitions. As it stands at the time of writing, it appears that NODWIN has lost only the Open Qualifiers. However, who will organise the 2027 Challengers/Game Changers South Asia circuit remains to be seen.
Charlie Cowdrey, CEO of JioBLAST, said, “At JioBLAST, we believe the future of esports depends on creating meaningful opportunities for emerging talent to compete, prove themselves and progress to the global stage. Our partnership with Riot Games for the VCT 2027 Kickoff Open Qualifiers reflects our commitment to strengthening South Asia’s competitive ecosystem and giving teams a clear pathway to pursue their ambitions. We look forward to seeing the region’s best talent step up, compete and seize this opportunity to make their mark. It is a great sign to see BLAST’s global relationship with Riot Games extending to India through JioBLAST.”
Anushka Bhatnagar, Publishing Lead for Riot Games India and South Asia, said, “The VCT 2027 competitive format marks an exciting step forward in making VALORANT Esports more accessible and creating meaningful opportunities for aspiring players across South Asia. With the Kickoff Open Qualifiers, we’re looking forward to seeing teams from across the region compete, showcase their skills and earn a place at Kickoff APAC. We’re pleased to partner with JioBLAST to bring this opportunity to the region and continue building the competitive ecosystem for VALORANT in South Asia.”
Apart from the Riot deal, JioBLAST has also signed two big partnerships in South Asia over the past few months. The first agreement is with the Esports Foundation to bring fans more India-focused coverage of the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026. The second partnership deal is with Supercell to run the Brawl Stars Challengers 2026 circuit across South and Southeast Asia.
