On their website, GAM Esports list
“GAM Esports VAL — Coming in 2027”. The Vietnamese organization was not bluffing and is set to make its entrance into the
VALORANT scene through the front door. According to our information, the club has indeed been selected by Riot Games as one of the VCT Pacific partner organizations for the 2027–2028 cycle. GAM are no strangers to Riot's ecosystem, with a presence in
Teamfight Tactics. Above all, however, the organization has been a mainstay of the regional
League of Legends scene for nearly a decade.
GAM have competed at
five editions of the World Championship and four editions of the Mid-Season Invitational. They should have appeared at one additional edition of each event — Worlds 2020 and MSI 2021 — but were unable to travel due to health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Near-uncontested kings of Vietnam during the VCS era, they won ten splits between 2017 and 2024. However, the team has faced greater challenges since the region's merger and the launch of the LCP. GAM have failed to win a single title over the past two seasons and did not qualify for any international tournament in 2026.
The return of regional leagues in 2027 could give the organization a chance to get back to winning ways.
A major overhaul
VALORANT could therefore offer another avenue for success. GAM are entering an ecosystem that is undergoing a major overhaul. For the 2027–2028 cycle, the number of partner teams will be reduced
from ten to eight in each of the four major regions: Pacific, EMEA, Americas and
China. The new circuit will also be almost entirely open, although partner teams will retain certain advantages. They are guaranteed a place at Kickoff, the season-opening tournament, which will take place in Bangkok, Thailand, from January 14 to February 7 in the Pacific region.
Partner status also allows teams to
bypass the opening rounds of the Open Qualifiers for the Cups, which effectively replace the Stages held in previous seasons. These Cups will be the sole route to qualification for international events. In the Pacific region, the first Cup will take place in Manila, Philippines, from April 29 to May 23, while the second will be held in Tokyo, Japan, from August 5 to 29. The region will also host the year's first Masters, scheduled to take place in Seoul, South Korea, from February 20 to May 3. Financially, partner teams will first continue to receive a base payment while also retaining revenue generated through their in-game team capsules.
A new audience
GAM arguably had more to prove than some of the other candidates to secure partner status. Having been part of the previous partnership cycle
could work in an organization's favour, although an established track record could also count against it. Another factor that could strengthen a team's application was the presence of
a Game Changers roster, a criterion GAM therefore did not meet.
Fan engagement, and regional representation in particular, were other factors that could weigh on Riot's decision. It is difficult to imagine that these two considerations were not decisive in GAM's case. The organization is one of the most popular in Vietnam and gives Riot Games a way to reach a new audience, as no Vietnamese team featured among the ten partners in the outgoing cycle.
