Valorant Champions 2023 to offer record prize pool

The prize pool for the Valorant Champions 2023 tournament has been released, and it breaks the record for the highest prize pool in the esports title.

Valorant Champions is the marquee event for Valorant esports, and thus has the highest prize pool of any tournament in the esport that year. In 2021 and 2022, the prize pool for the Valorant world championship was $1 million.

Teams and players also get a monetary boost from in-game skin sales with the Valorant Champions bundle. Riot Games splits the net proceeds from the sale of the limited-time cosmetic bundle with teams that qualify for the tournament. In 2021, the Champions bundle raised more than $7.5 million for teams about halfway into the tournament.

In 2022, it was reported that the skin bundle made over $18 million in profit during its total run.

For Valorant Champions 2023, Riot Games is adding even more of an incentive for teams to compete for a better finish at the tournament with a record-breaking prize pool.

Valorant Champions 2023 prize pool is double previous years

The prize pool for the tournament is set at $2.25 million, with the winner of the event earning $1 million. The event’s purse is easily the highest in Valorant history, and will set a high bar for world championships to come in terms of prize money.

While $2.25 million is an eyewatering number, it doesn’t come close to some other esports events. Riot Games’ League of Legends world championship saw one of its biggest prize pools in 2018. This was thanks to the initial prize pool put up by the developers, $2.25 million, and the extra influx of cash from in-game skin sales that bolstered the pool specifically.

Other esports, like Dota 2, has also ended up with massive prize money pools at events thanks to allowing the community to pay into it with in-game cosmetic sales. Valorant esports has yet to go down that path, with Riot Games opting to send the money from in-game sales directly to teams regardless of their tournament placement.

Fans can watch to see which team will walk away with the $1 million prize as the tournament starts on August 6.