VALORANT Mobile national series debuts in China with $418,000 prize pool

Riot Games and Tencent Games have announced the Valorant Mobile China National Open, the first national esports series for both the Barrage Mobile title and the mobile esports platform in China, and a $418,000 prize pool for the Valorant Mobile national series, officially kicking off the competitive scene for the game in China.

Valorant Mobile National Open 2025 Announcement

The Valorant Mobile National Series was announced at the Tencent SPARK 2025 showcase in April, when Riot Games and Tencent showed off their esports roadmap for Valorant Mobile. It was announced on April 21, 2025, when the pre-registration of the game went live, so the announcement for the Valorant Mobile China National Open had a trailer attached to it. Esports Insider and many other esports publications have confirmed the $418,000 prize pool for the Valorant Mobile National Series and have all said there’s been no changes since August 26, 2025, so it’s current.

Valorant Mobile Tournament Dates, Format, and Prize Details

o Event name: Valorant Mobile China National Open

o Region: China (National competition)

o Start: July 2025, coinciding with the launch event of the OnePlus Ace 5 Supreme

o Prize pool: $418,000 (approx. GBP 309,000)

This will be the first Valorant Mobile esports event of this scale and welcome the title into a competitive ecosystem.

Valorant Mobile Qualifiers – National, College, Streaming, OnePlus

The Valorant Mobile National Series has four ways for players to qualify:

• National Circuit: Open to the general player base.

• College Circuit: For university teams.

• Streaming Platform Circuit: Organized through China’s streaming services.

• Co-Op Circuit: In partnership with OnePlus, the official mobile partner.

The Valorant Mobile China National Open follows the PC esports structure but for mobile players in China’s massive gaming market.

Esports Investment and Competitive Growth 

Beyond the $418,000 prize pool, Riot and Tencent have committed 1.5 billion RMB (around $200 million) over three years to Valorant Mobile esports. This includes national and college-level tournaments, real-time anti-cheat, replay tools, and an in-game tournament hub.

At launch, Valorant Mobile has 18 agents, 7 maps, and 10 game modes, so there’s depth for competitive play.

Valorant Mobile in China – Market Impact and Gaming Ecosystem

The $418,000 Valorant Mobile national series prize pool is one of the highest for a country-level mobile esports competition. While PUBG Mobile and Free Fire world events have multimillion-dollar pools, most national circuits are $100,000 to $300,000. Valorant Mobile is above that. Earlier Valorant PC events in China had prize pools around $30,000, so this is a big jump. China’s mobile gaming market is $42.3 billion in 2023, so Riot and Tencent are making Valorant Mobile a flagship esport in a smartphone-first world.

Valorant Mobile x OnePlus Esports Smartphone Partnership

The Valorant Mobile China National Open is deeply rooted in OnePlus, as an official smartphone partner (OnePlus Ace 5 Supreme is the tournament hardware). This is the norm for mobile esports sponsorships with mobile phones. The Valorant Mobile national series was announced just before the game’s launch on August 19, 2025. Within 24 hours of commercial launch, Valorant Mobile had 170,000 downloads and $1,000,000 in revenue, a big success.

Looking ahead

There’s a “Show Cup” as a practice event in September 2025, before the real Valorant Mobile China National Circuit launches in Q4 2025 with TJ Sports running the event.

If the Valorant Mobile national series is successful in China, market analysts expect the national series to roll out to Southeast Asia and Korea next, and then to the global stage. For now, China is the testing ground for Valorant Mobile esports.

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