The VALORANT Champions Tour is coming up, and a long off-season is coming. The lack of events announced for that period has led to pro players taking to social media to share their frustrations.
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This prolonged downtime has left many professional players struggling with a sense of drift, as former T1 player Daniel 'Rossy' Abedrabbo put it on X (formerly Twitter): "I've never felt less motivated in my life. This schedule is really depressing me and I have no doubt other players feel this way too." 100 Thieves pro player Sean 'bang' Bezerra echoed this sentiment, replying: "Feel this, wish I could jump to 2025."
Why 2025? Aspirants who didn't make it to the VCT will have to wait another six months or so to try again, as VALORANT's competitive scene oscillates between an empty off-season and a jam-packed period during the major events. In response to Rossy's post on X, former YFP player Adam 'boyc3' Boyce and TSM's Tyler 'sym' Porter both weigh in on the current schedule, saying "rough schedule man I can't even imagine how shitty it must feel to be in that spot right now" and "hopefully the schedule gets better" – but the hostility towards how Riot has scheduled this year's events is nothing new.
The long breaks and busy competition periods have created a cycle of intense activity followed by long periods of rest, which has led to mental health issues for players. Looking back at the 2022 and 2023 offseasons, there were a few tournaments scheduled for pros of all levels during the period, giving them a chance to warm up before the VCT season began.
