Heading into VALORANT Champions 2023, the base prize pool of $2.25 million was the largest of the game’s competitions so far. Throw on a popular skin bundle that sees funds split among teams, and VCT’s best will be walking away with a sizeable bonus—but no one expected the amount to go this high.
With games just about to return to Champions 2023 after a short break changing venues, early estimates about the skin bundle for the event are high, especially in comparison to the tournament’s prize pool. According to a Riot Games tweet on Aug. 24, the bundle has already raised over $20 million USD for Champions 2023 teams—nearly 10 times more than the event’s prize pool.
That’s just for the teams, too, who receive 50 percent of the bundle proceeds—meaning Riot has made well over $40 million in total from the 2023 bundle. In comparison to previous events, the 2023 bundle is the most profitable Champions bundle so far. The first bundle released for the 2021 edition of the event earned just over $18 million total, meaning $9 million was split between the teams.
The 2022 VCT Champions’ additional prize pool hit $16 million at about the same time, meaning each team earned a solid $1 million extra—the same amount the eventual 2023 Champions will win just from the base event prize pool.
The better you perform at Champions, the more of the prize pool you get, but the skin bundle money ensures every team that qualifies for the pinnacle event is rewarded. The goal is to help fund the teams so the distribution doesn’t depend upon placement in the tournament. However, there is potential for organizations to split the skin bundle money differently between themselves and their players, whereas prize pools are always part of competitive players’ contracts.
Related: VCT Champions 2023 to feature largest prize pool in VALORANT history
There still is time for players to buy the Champions bundle and support their favorite players. The event ends on Aug. 26, but the sale for the bundle will run a few days over, giving fans another week from today to contribute to the additional prize pool. As long as the bundle continues to sell, this Champions bundle will be the most popular one yet, as well as providing a nice bonus to teams both at home already and still in the running to claim the VALORANT crown.
