GC EMEA Product Lead, Ashley, Discusses 2024 Format, Strict Verification System, More

After a successful Game Changers EMEA 2023 season, Riot has announced the complete details about the next season. 2024 Game Changers EMEA will bring plenty of format changes with the introduction of 10 team format, relegation, and much more. We got to attend a roundtable with Ashley Washington, the Game Changers EMEA Product Lead, where we got to ask her questions about changes in the verification system, LAN event plans, and more. You can find all the details below.

Game Changers EMEA 2024 Vision & Format

Game Changers EMEA Kickoff

The first stage of Game Changers EMEA 2024 will be a Kickoff event that will feature both Open and Closed Qualifiers. You can find the details of the format of both of them below:

• Open Qualifier — OQ will feature 128 teams and will follow a single elimination bracket. From there, the top four teams will qualify for Closed Qualifiers.
• Closed Qualifiers — The teams qualified from the Open Qualifiers will be up against the top teams from 2023 VCT Game Changers EMEA Stage 3. The stage will follow a double elimination bracket and the top eight teams will qualify for the VCT Game Changers EMEA Stage 1. All series played in Closed Qualifiers will be BO3.

Game Changers EMEA & EMEA Contenders

First coming to Game Changers EMEA Stage 1, the top eight teams qualified from the Closed Qualifiers will be joined by BBL Queens and G2 Gozen. By bringing in 10 teams format to Game Changers EMEA, Riot intends to increase visibility for players to move a step forward towards mixed-gender rosters. 

When we asked Ashley whether Riot intends to transform it into the already existing Partnership System, she said:

I can tell you that in EMEA, even though we are switching to a 10-team system, we are not looking to emulate a partnership system, and we're not going to do that in the future either. At the end of the day, we want to see the players make their way through game changers and out. We feel like that's kind of a move in the opposite direction. Like, hey, dig your heels and stay here. From the EMEA perspective, that switch doesn't have anything to do with that as much as it does about making our experience in the league better for the players.

From here, the top six teams will qualify for Game Changers EMEA Stage 2 and the teams with the last two positions in the group stage of each stage will be relegated to Contenders. Contenders will feature 32 teams including 10 teams invited from regional tournaments, 20 teams from Series 1 Open Qualifiers, and two relegated teams. 

This entire process repeats for Stage 2 before the eventual winners are decided in Stage 3.

With these changes we wanted to solidify Contenders as a prestigious tournament all participating players should be proud to compete in whilst being challenged to play their very best. Expect to see more co-streams of Contenders in 2024 alongside more watchable key moments from stars across the tournament.

VCT Game Changers 2024 Schedule & Key Dates

GC EMEA fans and players have been asking for a LAN event and when a fellow journalist, Cecilia asked about it, Ashley responded:

I knew that question was coming. Right now, we don't have any news about whether or not there'll be any EMEA only LAN. I can tell you it's super close to my heart and the Game Changers LAN experiences are unparalleled. But I don't have anything to announce today.

Open Qualifiers

Rules & Eligibility

• All players in your team should be Platinum 1 or above at the time of registration and during the event.
• A team cannot drop or add players in their roster during the OQ.

Registration Dates

• Kickoff — January 12 to 23
• Open Qualifier Series 1— January 12 to 23
• Open Qualifier Series 2 — June 8 to June 19

Last Chance Qualifiers

Registration Dates

• First Last Chance Qualifier — March 9th to 20th
• Second Last Chance Qualifier — June 15th to 26th

Rules

• LCQ will be open for everyone along with the teams who qualify through The LCQ will be open to all, with teams who qualify through the OQ having a higher seed

The number of slots for Contenders in the OQ is fixed, but the LCQ will vary based on how many spots are left for each Stage. The number of spots left mainly depends on the results of regional tournaments and the status of relegated teams.

In order to sign up for any of the stages, all players need to complete a player verification form and share the requested information with a trained team member via Discord.

During the discussion about Open Qualifiers, we pointed out the Noot Noot Malibu incident that happened during GC NA 2023 and asked Ashley what is Riot going to do to avoid situations like these in the future. She revealed that the verification process isn't changing and added:

I can tell you that all of the regions, their regional Game Changers tournaments are very different. Our Game Changers tournament has pretty stringent process for verification and also making sure players are not cheating. So fortunately, we haven't had an incident like that yet over here. I cannot speak to what changes are being made to NA, but I can guarantee you that our process will not get any less stringent over the next year in EMEA. So hopefully that continues. But if it does happen, don't blame me for jixing it.

Key Dates

• Open Qualifiers for the Kickoff — January 26 to 28
• Closed Qualifiers — February 3 to 4
• VCT Game Changers EMEA Stage 1 — February 16 - March 11
• Group Stage — February 16 to 27
• Play Offs — March 4 to 11
• VCT Game Changers EMEA Contenders Stage 1 — March 30 to April 7
• VCT Game Changers EMEA Contenders Stage 2 — July 6 to 14

Riot will announce more details about Game Changers EMEA 2024 soon, so make sure to check out our Valorant section for the latest updates.