Sources: VALORANT VCT Americas 2027-2028 partnership teams revealed

According to sources close to Sheep Esports and the organizations’ own announcements, the eight clubs that will be partnered teams in VCT Americas for the 2027-2028 cycle are:

With VALORANT Champions Shanghai now behind us, Riot Games is already preparing for the next season of its official competitive circuit, including the organizations selected for the next two-year partnership cycle. The upcoming cycle will bring changes across all four VCT regions, with the current partnership program, which began in 2023, coming to an end after the 2026 season.

From 2027 onwards, EMEA, Americas, Pacific, and China will each have eight partnered organizations instead of ten. Riot Games is also introducing several changes to the competitive format, with a new structure intended to open up more opportunities for teams to compete. Further details about the changes can be found in Sheep Esports’ coverage of Riot Games’ announcement.

Seven of the eight organizations already had a spot in the VCT Americas, and the only newcomer to the group is G2 Esports, which had held a guest slot since 2024. G2 were not selected in the first cycle, but have since won all three VCT Americas tournaments in 2025 and finished in the top four at Champions Shanghai.

The rest of the list can be also built on recent results. LOUD, who beat Team Vitality 3-1 in Shanghai, became the first organization to win two Champions titles, while NRG are the 2025 world champions. LEVIATÁN won Masters London in 2026, and 100 Thieves won the Esports World Cup and VCT Americas Stage 2. MIBR, who signed Erick “aspas” Santos through 2027, with Sentinels and KRÜ Esports completing the list.

VCT Americas will be divided into North America, LATAM North, LATAM South and Brazil, and the partners are distributed as follows: four organizations from North America (G2 Esports, NRG, Sentinels and 100 Thieves), two from Brazil (LOUD and MIBR) and two from LATAM South (KRÜ Esports and LEVIATÁN). LATAM North has no direct representation.

Four of the seven organizations left out competed in the league this year: Evil Geniuses, Cloud9, ENVY and FURIA. Cloud9 had been a partner since 2023. FURIA, the Kickoff 2026 champions, were also not selected. Shopify Rebellion, M80, FlyQuest and LYON complete the list of organizations that reached the final stages and were not selected.

However, this does not necessarily mean the end of these clubs in the game. The new format gives non-partner teams a path through the Open Qualifiers, and the regional Kickoff, which will be played in São Paulo from January 14 to February 7, having eight partners and four teams coming through the qualifiers.

The partnership decisions come on top of a number of roster changes that Sheep Esports has already reported:

LOUD, Sentinels and KRÜ Esports, for example, have already confirmed their selection publicly. Among the teams that were left out, Cloud9 said it will remain in VALORANT and is holding open tryouts to build a roster for the qualifiers, with more news expected after free agency begins on November 3.

ENVY’s CEO said the decision does not necessarily mean the organization will leave the game, while M80, FlyQuest and Shopify Rebellion confirmed the decision without announcing plans. LYON’s head of VALORANT, Emmanuel Neyra, warned that the lack of a partner in LATAM North could widen the gap with the south of the region.