EDward Gaming, Wolves Esports, and TYLOO have been confirmed for the upcoming VCT CN League.
CHINA – EDward Gaming, Wolves Esports, and TYLOO have been unveiled as the next batch of organizations to take part in the upcoming VCT CN League. The announcement of the remaining four organizations is set to take place over the next few days, during which additional information about the league’s schedule and plans for the inaugural season will also be shared, according to multiple sources close to the situation.
The VCT CN League emerges as the fourth International League for VALORANT, established shortly within a year following the game’s official approval in China to position it alongside the Pacific, Americas, and EMEA leagues. The selection process for these ten organizations was extensive, spanning several months and involving written applications, detailed interviews, and thorough financial evaluations.
The ten organizations in the league will be joined by a temporary eleventh team, which will qualify through Ascension China for the two upcoming 2024 and 2025 seasons. This addition will bring the total number of teams in the league to eleven, aligning it with the team count in the other four international leagues.
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EDward Gaming has been at the forefront of Chinese VALORANT, having operated a division for the game since its global release in 2020, well before it was officially approved in China this year. The Chinese roster is headlined by Zheng “ZmjjKK” Yongkang and has consistently remained at the top of the regional competition throughout these years.
Having participated in four international VALORANT tournaments and boasting a significant presence in China within the LPL ecosystem, EDward Gaming was widely anticipated to take part in the CN partnered league.
Wolves Esports, the esports arm of the English Premier League’s Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club, becomes another team confirmed for the VCT CN League.
The organization is no stranger to the Chinese market, having previously directed a considerable part of its operations in the region. Currently, they have teams competing in Honor of Kings (AoV), Call of Duty Mobile, PUBG Mobile, FIFA Online 4, Identity V, QQ Speed, Naraka Bladepoint, and Street Fighter 6 – with six of these eight teams being based in China.
Their Honor of Kings squad, the crowning jewel, clinched the 2021 HoK World Champion Cup and most recently, the King Pro League Spring 2023 title.
Established in 1877, Wolverhampton Wanderers, often known as Wolves, stands as one of England’s oldest and most respected football clubs and currently compete in the Premier League, which is the world’s most watched – available in 188 countries with a cumulative annual audience of 3.2 billion people.
In 1888, Wolves distinguished themselves as one of the pioneering 12 teams that founded the first professional football league.
A 140-year rollercoaster ride across all four divisions of the English football pyramid has seen Wolves amass 17 major trophies in their history, including 11 league titles, four FA Cups and two League Cups. In 2016, Wolves were acquired by Chinese consumer technology company Fosun International, and a return to the Premier League followed in 2018, followed by a top-16 finish in the Europa League and back-to-back seventh-placed finishes at the top of English football.
TYLOO becomes the sixth announced organization for VCT CN, but the first one coming outside of the Tencent Games ecosystem of LPL and HoK. The organization is best known for its time in Counter-Strike, being one of the pioneers of FPS esports in the China region for decades. TYLOO was the first Asian team to break into the top 10 of global rankings in 2018 with a history of participation in multiple major competitions. Some former Counter-Strike players from the organization have transitioned to playing VALORANT at the highest level, such as Kevin “xccurate” Susanto and Seon-ho “xeta” Son, who are now part of T1, and Ivan “Johnta” Shevcov, who has taken on a coaching role with FENNEL.
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Cover photo courtesy of Colin Young-Wolff/Riot Games
