League of Legends developer Riot Games officially announced that the League of Legends 2021 World Championship will be relocating from China to Europe. It is not clear if this will interfere with competing teams’ participation – as of last Friday, League Championship Series teams were still securing visas to enter China, according to North American league organizers.
The tournament was initially planned to be hosted across different cities in China, including Shanghai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu and Shenzhen, but the change emerged when Riot Games encountered difficulties with China’s severe COVID restrictions. According to a local business source, the tournament officials are currently in touch with the Chinese local sponsors to negotiate refund and compensation.
Europe hosted the World Championship in 2019. The one-month tournament ran across Madrid, Paris, and Berlin. It is uncertain whether the tournament this year will allow the public to attend arenas. Previous League of Legends European Championship(LEC) was played out in the Berlin studio with no live audiences, and the 2020 World Championship in China only allowed a limited audience in the grand finals due to pandemic safety measures. It will also be challenging for the officials to find a world-class E-sports stadium that satisfies the local COVID restrictions.
As of today, there are 9 confirmed teams for the game: DWG, Gen.G T1 from Korean League, 100 Thieves, Team Liquid, Cloud9 from North American League, Rogue, Mad Lions, Fnatic from European League.