Developer and tournament organizer Riot Games today announced that the franchise-like VALORANT circuit’s inaugural year would begin in February 2023 with an international kick-off event.

The event is scheduled to take place in So Paulo, Brazil, and will include all 30 clubs from the worldwide leagues. Starting in 2024, the kick-off event will take the place of the first split of the year.

After VALORANT Champions 2022, which will finish on September 18, the partnered teams will compete against one another to determine who won the offseason and the transfer period.

Early in March, the three-week-long kick-off event will select a winner, with a special surprise for the squad that takes first place. For their respective international league at Masters later in the year, the victor will receive an additional spot. For instance, if a team from North America wins the competition, they will receive an extra slot at Masters for their international league, which includes teams from Brazil, Latin America, and North America.

The bulk of competitions are staged in European nations so that all teams may travel quickly and securely without being subject to COVID-19 limitations. Brazil has not yet hosted an international tournament in VALORANT.

Although OpTic rivals LOUD were in the top three in VALORANT Champions 2022, Brazil boasts some of the strongest VALORANT teams. Which Brazilian teams will collaborate with Riot in 2019 is not yet known.

The first event will take place in conjunction with the inaugural Challengers split, which will start in January 2019 and end in March 2019.