- Primary Subject: Valorant
- Key Update: I spoke with Jon Tilbury at the VCT EMEA Stage 2 finals in Barcelona, and here is the full interview with all the insights.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: September 2, 2026
- Quick Answer: In Barcelona, the VCT EMEA product lead Jon Tilburt spoke with us about stage layout, Stage 2 surprises/upsets, VCT 2027, and more.
The VCT EMEA Stage 2 came to a close this past weekend after the finals between Karmine Corp and Team Liquid took place in Barcelona, where the former secured a convincing 3-1 win and took the beautiful trophy home.
The weekend marked the first time the VCT EMEA league stepped out of the Berlin studio for a regional competition since the inception of the current format, which is also happening across the other regions. I was able to attend the event, and in the midst of all the matches and fun side activities, I had the opportunity to interview Jon Tilburt, the VCT EMEA product lead.
While we couldn't touch on some top-secret subjects, like some of next year's plans, he did have some interesting insights on the process behind organizing this event, what Riot is doing regarding some controversies ahead of Champions 2026, and what we can expect from the 2027 season. Here is my full conversation with him:
Deciding on a Location
Henry: This is the first time the VCT EMEA hosts a final outside the studio, outside of Berlin. So I want to ask why Barcelona, and did the success of the LEC Finals that took place earlier this year influence this decision?
Jon: So, for us, leaving Berlin for the first time was kind of a big moment. We felt like it was really important because for four years we've asked fans to come to us, and we are trying to create an experience for players/fans across the whole of EMEA, and we really feel like we should be going to them. So that's part of the vision for 2027 and beyond. But we wanted to do this now to show what 2027 can be like. When we looked at places that we wanted to go, there was honestly a huge list. There are so many strong communities and strong locations to host an event all over EMEA, and Barcelona is one that stood out to us because there is such a strong community here. The culture of fandom and the culture of sports in Spain is very strong. Spain was a natural choice for us. We also wanted to go somewhere new because that's part of the goal as well, we don't want to be going back all the time to the same locations. We actually do want to go back to some of those locations, but it's important that we meet new communities and groups.
When we looked at that list, Barcelona stood out as one of those places where all the stars aligned, super strong fandom, super strong community for Valorant, amazing sports culture, amazing culture generally, and yeah, it just felt very natural.
This was a decision we made at the start of the year, so not influenced by anything else. The Valorant community is very different to the League community, in a lot of ways. Sometimes what works for League may not necessarily work for Valorant, and vice versa. We always try to listen to the community, to our community. We do take lessons from League and the things they're doing as well, but for us it's about looking out for what our community is telling us.
Henry: Just sort of to sneak in another question about what you just said, because I was already going to ask this. I heard a rumor that Madrid was in contention, is there any truth to that?
Jon: There are a lot of cities in contention, absolutely. When we sat down, we were like, 'okay, where are all of the places that we feel fans deserve an event, that we would like to go to?' There were 20 cities on that list, so Madrid was absolutely on that list as well. Obviously, we went to Madrid in 2024, so Barcelona was our preference.
Not a Rehearsal, but a Learning Experience for Next Season
Henry: You already mentioned it a little bit. You already said that more of this is to come next season. Just to go in depth a little bit, is this event like a rehearsal for next season?
Jon: Maybe I wouldn't necessarily say a rehearsal, but one of the goals for it is for us to learn more about what we can offer the community, to kind of build a muscle memory internally around how we make a VCT EMEA road trip, 'will this really work?' and yeah, kind of to set an expectation with fans that these events will be something really special next year.
Like you said earlier, we haven't done this before. We've been static in Berlin, and we want to show the scale of the event here, the fan fest, all the community and culture elements that we bring in. Those are things we want to deliver at the highest possible level, even for a roadshow within EMEA. It's not necessarily a rehearsal, but we are using this as a learning experience to refine and make sure we are in the best possible place for next year and continue to raise that bar.
The Trophy
Henry: I was outside... I saw the trash cans... inspired by that infamous trophy. So, what was the inspiration for this event's trophy? And do you have that old infamous trophy in mind when designing a new one?
Jon: We have a picture of it on the wall to remind us of what not to do... When we go to a location, we really want to celebrate the local community and lean into local culture as well. One of the things that made Barcelona such a strong place to put an event is, from a cultural perspective, its arts, sports, music, etc. There are so many things here that are world-class, so the trophy needed to reflect that as well. When you look across the event, you see the trinkety showing up in all the creatives, the trinkety inspired the design in the trophy. La Sagrada Familia's architecture kind of inspired some of that as well. It's about celebrating the culture of Barcelona, and the wider culture in Spain. But it's not about doing that just for the community here, it's also because one of the things we are proud of is that VCT EMEA has fans all over Europe, the Middle East, Turkiye, North Africa, and everyone is part of one community. Everyone shares this identity as a fan or as a player in the region, and the diversity we have in that group is amazing. When we celebrate local culture and showcase it through things like the trophy, I think it's about reminding everyone and making them feel like they're part of something so much bigger - that we are a huge, diverse community that has this one passion in common. That's what we get really excited about.
Concerns After Champions Paris
Henry: I'm gonna talk a little bit about logistics here, specifically the stage layout. Just to preface, we saw last year at Champs, NRG's IGL Ethan made the call that the player from the other team was defusing because he saw he wasn't moving his mouse. People saw and commented on that. So, have you guys discussed any changes to the stage layout to address this, or at least taken into consideration that concern from the community?
Jon: Yeah, absolutely. Because it's a concern for us as well. The competitive integrity of the competition is always priority number one. You'll see there are changes that we've made in response to that, and actually some of them probably have been rolled out before. The screen is now along the edge of the desk to try to reduce the line of sight to the player's hand. We think very carefully about lighting as well, because we are also conscious that bright abilities on the screen, for example, can light things. It can be challenging to get all of those things right, and we probably haven't got it. I'm sure there are more things that we can do to improve. But we absolutely think about that. At the same time, we want to make sure that the creative vision, the way the stage looks, the way the stage feels, the ability for the players to see each other's faces and be able to react, fans should be able to see that motion, and it's really what it's all about. But absolutely, competitive integrity is number one, and we'll continue to make sure that we take measures to address anything sensitive.
A Crazy Stage 2
Henry: Sounds good. And just to recap this stage. We saw a lot of surprises this stage. Frankfurt eliminated Team Heretics, Fire Flux came here to Barcelona and secured fourth place, which is really good. So, do you think giving challenger teams a path to tier 1 events and to qualify for bigger events is the way forward?
Jon: Oh, a hundred percent. We've learned a lot over the last three and a half or four years from the initial VCT model, and there is a reason why we want to open things up. It has started to feel a little bit stale, and we also know that there are so many incredible players and teams out there that haven't necessarily had the chance to prove themselves and rise to the top. I think the result in Stage 2 and during the play-ins and playoffs couldn't demonstrate that better. And yeah, we are really, really excited about the model next year and those teams being able to kind of consistently have a chance. I think it's important for EMEA especially because we have so much talent in this region that it's almost a problem. When you have so many talents and players and teams, it can be difficult for teams to actually identify and put together the best rosters. When you get to a restaurant, and there are 10 thousand things on the menu, it's a lot harder to figure out what you want than when the menu is a bit shorter.
We've spent a lot of time talking to managers, coaches, and influencers who cover the event, and we've asked them their theories for why it's been 1000 days since we've won a trophy. And one of the consistent themes that has come up is that it's hard because we have so much talent, because we have so many incredible players to actually identify who is right there at the top. So, next year the system sets EMEA especially up for success because it will really allow those players and teams to shine through, where before they had to wait for that call to actually participate.
Henry: Last question, I want your predictions. Who do you think is going to win Stage 2?
Jon: That's a good question.
Henry: No judgment here.
Jon: So obviously I have no favorites, but I do think it would be a nice story if we finish this foliage cycle the way we started it. So I'm going to say Team Liquid. They won the league in 2023, it would be pretty cool if they won Stage 2 as well.
READ MORE: Riot Games Needs to Stop Gatekeeping Valorant Mobile and Launch It Globally
Unfortunately for Jon, KC secured the Stage 2 win after defeating the crowd's fan favorite 3 to 1. However, the season is not over for both teams, as Team Liquid and Karmine Corp have qualified for Valorant Champions Shanghai, which starts on September 24.
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