“This is so wrong”: Problem with different VCT regions playing on different patches

I VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) is among its four regional Phase 1 events across EMEA, the Americas, the Pacific, and China. Each competition offers qualifications for Masters London in June.

As the second international tournament of the year, Masters London aims to bring together the best VCT teams from each region to compete at the highest level of VALORANT competition. However, these four VCT rounds are currently playing on different game sheets.

VCT EMEA and Americas have already received the latest major Patch 12.06. Meanwhile, China hasn’t changed, and the Pacific won’t be leaving Patch 12.05 until April 24, four weeks into Phase 1.

“This is very unfair. Every VALORANT region approaching new areas in a different way baffles me,” commented Team Assistant Coach, Daniel “yaotziN” Roczniakon social media. “Some districts getting a new patch later gives them an easy way to make big changes.

“Furthermore, this difference in timing can determine which playoffs (which teams) play deep in the playoffs and qualify for internationals.”

YaotziN is by no means the only VALORANT esports expert to point out integrity issues related to the different patch times in the four VCT regions. So, let’s examine how VCT ended up in this situation, how it might affect professional gaming, and what lessons Riot Games should take from this.

Ahead of the conclusion of VCT 2026’s first global event, Masters Santiago, Riot Games has released Patch 12.05 to the VALORANT player base.

While the competition continued to play in the previous version of the game, the VCT teams already knew that they had to make changes before the regional events of Tier 1. Patch 12.05 was a big shock to Yoru, the most played playlist in Tier 1 at the time, which meant that a new team formation was imminent.

Implementing significant game changes after an international event, such as in Patch 12.05, is generally well received within the VALORANT esports community. It gives coaches a tight window of time to adjust and build creativity with the new update. What the VCT community didn’t see, however, was that on the same day that the Stage 1 game began in China, Riot Games would release yet another game-changing episode.

Patch 12.06 changed Waylay Fills from instant rendering to having the ability to equip animations. In theory, this now makes the popular dudelist more vulnerable while using Saturate, thus, limiting the skill’s usefulness to professional play. Why is Riot Games putting out a major update so badly?

In accordance with Leo Faria, Global Head of VALORANT Esportsthe Waylay nerf was originally scheduled to roll out along with the Yoru changes in Patch 12.05.

“That change should have been in place earlier,” Faria explained on VALORANT’s Plat Chat. “There was a delay […] it had to be shipped in the next episode, and we had two choices: Not to ship it, and keep Waylay in the way it demanded from tens of millions of players, or just ship it, and deal with it on the esports side. We will always choose the ladder.

“Those things are still going to happen, unfortunately. It’s the nature of a live game and live development.”

It seems that the timing of Patch 12.06 was out of date, born of internal problems at Riot Games. But what about the differences in plots across the four VCT regions?

Most VALORANT esports experts seem to agree that disruptive mid-season game updates aren’t a problem. They introduce a new competitive edge in paid gaming by rewarding dynamic teams.

However, when such changes are made at different times in the regions, they undermine the integrity of competition. For example, VCT Pacific has many weeks to prepare game theory for Patch 12.06, while being forced to stick with the old meta until later in Phase 1. On the other hand, VCT EMEA and Americas had less time to make changes, but they have many more weeks to practice Patch 12.06 in official matches.

Although these conditions are not ideal, the conditions should at least be the same in all four regions. The ongoing situation creates regional imbalances that may carry over to the next global event should Masters London be played in Patch 12.06.

“Why on earth would Pacific wait until week four to use a patch?” asked the VALORANT talent on air Josh “Sideshow” Wilkinson on Plat Chat. “‘Cause some regions are now motivated to deal with change quickly. Like, if you’re an American team, you don’t bother to put a lot of money on Waylay if you believe that this is a big concern for Waylay.

“But Pacific has to commit to the previous episode.”

Interestingly, last season, VCT also struggled with regional inconsistencies reminiscent of the current turmoil. VCT regions will hold their events on very different dates, giving their teams more or less time to prepare for international competitions compared to teams from other regions.

A year later, the dates of the regional tournament have been adjusted to coincide. VCT 2027, however, will follow an open qualification model with more regional cups, rather than the three regional events and four closed regional leagues of the current VCT partnership cycle.

How will regional harmony be maintained in the future?

“Imagine next year, post-Masters 1, we have all these online qualifiers, and every region is a different starting point? It’s not fair at all,” argued the PRX Assistant Coach. Ashton “Wendler” Wendler on social media.

If Riot Games were to launch major game patches with esports integrity as a priority, it would be better to include several agent changes in major updates, as originally planned for Patch 12.05. These patches will then be announced after every global Masters or Champions event, ensuring all regions have time to adjust before the next open qualifier or cup.

Although it is uncertain how the VCT 2027 ecosystem will accept these amendments, Leo Faria confirmed that there will be gaps in the annual schedule of sports events.
“The calendar in that picture doesn’t show the number of breaks between those blocks. And we’ll have a healthy number of them. And our hope is to see time change like we did today,” shared VALORANT’s Global Head of Sports on Plat Chat.

He added: “We have big patches and small patches. Big patches are usually like the introduction of a new map or a new agent, or a big balance change. Then we have small patches that focus on map rotation, and small fixes here and there.”

“So if you have a small window, a small patch. A big window, a big patch.”

According to Faria, Riot’s policy gives teams at least 12 days to respond to a patch. Unfortunately for VALORANT esports, however, the developer will continue to prioritize its overall player base over VCT when it comes to patch times.

“Tens of millions of players who play VALORANT every day, if they need a change, we will succeed, and the game will deal with it,” explained Leo.