Riot has released two blog posts this week lifting the veil on format details for the 2023 EMEA VCT and broadcast details for their 2023 competitions. EMEA will feature three matchdays per week, one super week and a six-team double-elimination bracket.

After the VCT LOCK//IN: São Paulo, the 10 teams in each league will retreat to their respective competitive regions to begin the first split of competitive league play in March. In EMEA, that means heading to the Messe Berlin exhibition grounds in the Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf precinct of Berlin, Germany, where Riot is building a studio for the EMEA VCT.

After the LOCK//IN event, the EMEA league will kick off with eight weeks of single round-robin play. Those eight weeks of matches will play out on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, starting at 6 p.m. CET each day. After these eight weeks, the six best teams will be drafted into a "modified" double-elimination bracket, to crown the regional champion and select teams for 2023's Masters event.

Two days ago, Riot also revealed EMEA's Challengers leagues — who are now nine thanks to individual leagues in Italy and Portugal — will kick off in January. Stage 1 playoffs will begin by late February and concluding by March 12. Stage 2 will kick off after the first week of the VCT split, with league matches played out between Saturday and Tuesday from April 1. Playoffs will begin in late May and conclude by June 11.

The full start dates for Stage 1 Challengers are:

  • Spain - January 8
  • Eastern Europe - January 12
  • DACH - January 14
  • France - January 14
  • Portugal - January 14
  • Türkiye - January 14
  • Northern Europe - January 16
  • Italy - January 21
  • MENA - January 28