With over 80 million monthly players, League of Legends has become one of the biggest games of the decade. The League of Legends 2020 World Championship is one of the most anticipated Esports events on the calendar, and now it’s been confirmed that the month-long tournament will proceed despite the ongoing pandemic.
Riot Games have no intentions of cancelling the event at the moment. The 2020 World Championship will take place in Shanghai, starting on September 25.
The League of Legends 2020 World Championship will take place in Shanghai, although country-wide tours and live audiences are unlikely to be happening.
Riot Games have ensured the prioritisation of player safety and adherence to social distancing regulations. In contrast to the usual tradition of touring the country with play-offs in different cities, the League of Legends 2020 World Championship will only be happening at Shanghai’s Pudong Soccer Stadium. There will be no seating arrangements as there will be no live audience, and the game will be streamed online to be viewed digitally. With reduced travel and social distancing implemented for the event, Riot Games has not yet received any note-worthy community backlash.
The event is scheduled to start on September 25 with finals happening October 31. Riot will be pushing for an in-person audience for the event’s finals, but will likely face many difficulties in gaining approval from local authorities. It’s also unclear in terms of how the players will play specifically. Out of all the Esports tournaments, this will perhaps be the most ambitious event during the pandemic.
This all comes amidst rumours that Seraphine, a CGI online personality with huge followings on Twitter and Instagram, is League of Legends’ next upcoming champion.
Riot Games has promised China to be the 2021 World Championship host, with North America taking the reigns in 2022. This year though, we can expect the majority of the audience to join the hype online.
Find out more about the 2020 League of Legends World Championships here.
