League of Legends fans recently witnessed one of the greatest finals in World Championship history. However, many are already looking toward the future of the tournament.
In a detailed interview with Travis Gafford, the president of esports at Riot Games, John Needham, discussed the dissatisfaction with the current state of Worlds. He acknowledged the demand for a double-elimination format in the knockout stage and recognized that the fan base is unhappy with the current tournament setup.
“I think there are a lot of matches that are meaningless in the format that we have now,” Needham said. “We want every match, ideally, to mean something, and I think there’s just a lot of wasted matches right now at Worlds.”
A major complaint fans have with Worlds is that the group stage, being the longest part of the event, can feel lackluster. Teams can almost effectively be eliminated through the first round robin. In many instances, some knockout stage teams were locked in after just one game in the second week, rendering every other match in their group pointless.
Needham stated that, aside from the knockout stage, the current format is not optimal. The team will be looking at changes for the tournament and other international League esports events in the near future. However, there won’t be any change to a double-elimination format anytime soon, disappointing some supporters.
Fans have also voiced complaints about the lack of best-of-five matches at the biggest event of the year. They point out the loss of potential storylines and the overall lack of inter-regional play. Although the format has seen success in other titles and tournaments like VALORANT Champions, Needham believes that Worlds should have the biggest and most exciting stakes of any title in Riot’s growing catalog since it’s the company’s biggest event.
“We believe the emotion and excitement of one given day where the biggest team could get knocked out means something in the sports experience,” Needham said. “We just think that for an event that is as big and impactful as Worlds, we want to keep single-eliminations from the knockout stage forward, for now.”
Looking ahead, it seems like there are changes on the horizon for League’s competitive ecosystem in the coming months. So, buckle up and stay tuned for more developments.