Game Changers Championship 2026: ten teams play in São Paulo from Oct. 22 to Nov. 1, and Team Liquid Visa defends its title at home

Valorant’s biggest Game Changers event heads to Brazil one last time on its own. Here’s when the Game Changers Championship 2026 runs, who plays and what tickets cost.

When and where is the Game Changers Championship 2026?

From Oct. 22 to Nov. 1, 2026, at Riot Games Arena in São Paulo, Brazil, according to Riot. The arena is at Av. Thomas Edison, 849, in Barra Funda. Ten teams play, and Riot calls it the final standalone Game Changers Championship: in 2027, the event becomes part of Valorant Champions in Austin, Texas, as our VCT 2027 schedule page explains.

Game Changers Championship 2026 schedule

There are two matches a day from Oct. 22 to 28, at 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. in São Paulo, which is 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. ET. Oct. 29 is a day off. Finals weekend starts on Friday, Oct. 30, with the upper bracket final and the lower bracket semifinal, the lower bracket final follows on Saturday, Oct. 31, and both shows start at 2 p.m. ET. The grand final is on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 3 p.m. in São Paulo, or 1 p.m. ET, because US clocks fall back that morning.

The opening day pairs FENNEL GC with MIBR and SK Nebula with Nova Esports GC. On Oct. 23, Team Liquid Visa plays Gentle Mates GC and KRÜ Blaze plays Gen.G GC. On Oct. 24, G2 Gozen and Shopify Rebellion Gold enter against the opening day winners.

How the tournament works

The Game Changers Championship uses a double elimination bracket, so every team gets a second chance after a first loss. Matches are best of three until the lower bracket final and the grand final, which are best of five. To create more international matchups, Riot put teams from the same regional qualifier on opposite sides of the bracket, which it set at a draw show on Oct. 15.

Which teams are playing?

The ten teams qualified through regional competition in North America, EMEA, China, the Pacific, Brazil and Latin America: Team Liquid Visa, Shopify Rebellion Gold, G2 Gozen, Gentle Mates GC, SK Nebula, KRÜ Blaze, Gen.G GC, FENNEL GC, MIBR and Nova Esports GC.

Team Liquid Visa won the 2025 title in Seoul and plays for a second straight championship with the home crowd behind it. Shopify Rebellion Gold, which came close to the 2025 title, is back for another run. Riot’s guide doesn’t list the prize pool. For 2027, Riot says a non-partner team that qualifies for the Game Changers Championship gets a $100,000 payment.

Tickets, Fan Fest and Drops

Arena tickets cost R$160, about $32, for each day from Oct. 22 to 28, and R$210, about $41, for each day of finals weekend, at the mid-October exchange rate. Doors open at 2 p.m. local time and matches start at 3 p.m. From Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, the Game Changers Fan Fest at Community Creators Academy in Vila Leopoldina has watch parties, a PC bang and an artists' alley for R$30, about $6, a day, and a Fan Fest ticket doesn’t include the arena. Championship merchandise is sold only in São Paulo.

Viewers can earn three Drops: the MIGA title for watching 30 minutes between Oct. 22 and 31, the Mais Que Amigas spray for 30 minutes of the grand final and the BRABA title for 30 minutes of eligible on-site co-streams from Oct. 30 to Nov. 1. Pick’Ems lock on Oct. 22 at about 2:10 p.m. ET, 10 minutes after the first match starts.

This page is updated as soon as each Game Changers Championship match ends.