Riot Games Expands League of Legends Professional Leagues
League of Legends is growing rapidly, with more teams vying for a chance to compete for multi-million dollar prizes and fame in front of millions of fans. To satisfy this demand, Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, has announced its plans to expand its professional leagues in North America and Europe. The expansion will increase the number of teams from eight to ten, providing more opportunities for teams to showcase their skills and potentially qualify for the League of Legends world championships.
Increased Competition Format
Currently, the competition is divided into two shorter seasons called “splits.” At the end of each split, the bottom two teams from the regular season and the sixth-place team from the end-of-split tournament must defend their positions in a promotion tournament, similar to European soccer leagues. This format ensures that fresh talent enters the professional leagues and prevents complacency among pro teams.
Expansion Tournament for Additional Spots
The two new spots in each region’s League Championship Series (LCS) will be filled through an expansion tournament. Teams that fail to qualify through the promotional tournament will have another chance to qualify in this tournament. The dates, structure, and competition format for the expansion tournament will be announced after the completion of the World Championships in October.
New Points System for Enhanced Competition
Riot Games is also considering implementing a new points system to make every game more meaningful throughout the competitive season. Currently, only the end-of-season tournament has long-term benefits, such as qualification for the World Championships. The mid-season tournament only awards prize money and doesn’t affect qualification for the World Championships. To address this, Riot is exploring the use of “circuit points” similar to the system used in the Korean professional league.
The Korean league awards teams with circuit points based on their performances across all phases of the season. The two teams with the highest accumulated points at the end of the season automatically qualify for the World Championships. The third qualifier is determined through a single-elimination tournament involving the third to sixth-place finishers in circuit points. While Riot recognizes the potential complexity of this system, they are actively seeking feedback and conducting simulations to determine the best format for the competition.
Overall, these changes reflect Riot Games’ commitment to continuously improving and expanding the competitive landscape of League of Legends.
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