Oceania will no longer feature a tier-two Challengers league starting in 2026.
AUSTRALIA – Riot Games has announced the decision to sunset the VALORANT Challengers Oceania (OCE) circuit in 2026, bringing an end to the region’s official tier-two league after three seasons.
“After an extensive review of our options, we have made the difficult decision to sunset Challengers Oceania in 2026. When we first launched the Challengers Oceania tournament, we had hoped to build a long-term, sustainable local ecosystem. Unfortunately, we have not seen the growth we had hoped for, and ultimately the demands of operating the league have outweighed the actual level of interest in terms of viewership and player participation.”
Oceania (OCE) has been part of VALORANT esports since the game’s earliest days, beginning with First Strike Oceania in 2020. For the first two full seasons in 2021 and 2022, the region operated its own Riot-sanctioned circuit, the VALORANT Oceania Tour (VOT), mirroring the VCT Challengers format used elsewhere. The 2021 season fed into the North America Last Chance Qualifier, before Oceania teams were moved to the APAC LCQ the following year.
The region didn’t see a formal Challengers circuit until 2023, when Riot Games partnered with New Zealand–based LetsPlay.Live after holding sanctioned competitions since 2021.
ALSO READ: VCT Kickoff 2026 – What You Need to Know
(Photo courtesy of VCT Pacific)
Despite the closure, Riot Games emphasizes that Oceania will continue to have a path-to-pro within the VCT structure. Beginning in 2026, OCE players will enter the ecosystem through Premier, where the region’s top-performing team will advance to the Pacific Last Chance Qualifier. The winner of the LCQ will claim one of the four available slots in the VCT Pacific Stage 2 Playoffs.
The following teams will qualify for the 2026 VCT Pacific Stage 2 Playoffs:
- #1 team from Challengers SEA
- #1 team from Challengers Japan
- #1 team from Challengers Korea
- #1 team from the Challengers LCQ
The Challengers Pacific LCQ will feature:
- #1 team from Challengers South Asia
- #1 team from Oceania [Premier]
- #2 and #3 of Challengers SEA
Riot also plans to increase support for grassroots and community events, acknowledging continued interest at the amateur level even as the official league winds down. Meanwhile, VALORANT Game Changers Oceania remains unaffected and will continue running in 2026.
“The top-performing Premier teams from the corresponding acts in 2026 will be eligible to participate in an Oceania regional qualifier. The winner of this qualifier will earn a spot at the LCQ. And to ensure that top Premier teams from 2025 are rewarded for their performance, we will be placing the top teams from the last 3 acts of 2025 directly into the Invite Division for V26A1 where they will compete against other Premier teams for points.”
Past Champions of the OCE VALORANT Circuit:
- 2020 First Strike OCE: EXO Clan
- 2021 VALORANT Oceania Tour Stage 1 Finals: ORDER
- 2021 VALORANT Oceania Tour Stage 2 Finals: Wildcard Gaming
- 2021 VALORANT Oceania Tour Stage 3 Finals: ORDER
- 2021 VALORANT Oceania Tour Championship: ORDER
- 2022 VALORANT Oceania Tour Stage 1: Bonkers
- 2022 VALORANT Oceania Tour Stage 2: ORDER
- 2022 VALORANT Oceania Tour Championship: ORDER
- 2023 VALORANT Challengers Oceania Split 1: 95X Esports
- 2023 VALORANT Challengers Oceania Split 2: Bonkers
- 2024 VALORANT Challengers Oceania Split 1: JiJieHao BONK
- 2024 VALORANT Challengers Oceania Split 2: JFT Esports
- 2024 VALORANT Challengers Oceania Split 3: JiJieHao BONK
- 2025 VALORANT Challengers Oceania Split 1: E-KING
- 2025 VALORANT Challengers Oceania Split 2: E-KING
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Cover photo courtesy of LPL
