League of Legends World Championship dates and cities announced

After an extended delay, Riot Games has finally announced the dates and cities for the League of Legends World Championship in Korea.

The First-Ever “All-Korea” Event for the League of Legends World Championship

For the first time ever, the League of Legends’ World Championship is going to be an “all-Korea” event. This means every stage of the tournament will play in different places across the country.  The play-in stage, for example, will be held in Korea’s capital, Seoul. Twelve teams will compete for the final four spots in the group stage. They will be playing from October 1 – 4, then October 5 – 7. The play-in venue may not have to be too large as the other stages, but will still need to be a significant size.

Group Stage and Quarterfinals

Next, League of Legends fans will travel to the second largest city in Korea, Busan. The beautiful city is known for its beaches, temples, and mountains. Teams will battle it out during the group stage as well as the Worlds quarterfinals. The dates for the group stage are October 10 -17, and the quarterfinals will run from October 20 – 21.

Semifinals

The League of Legends Worlds semifinals will be held in the artistic city of Gwangju. The city is home to multiple museums, exhibitions, and festivals that occur frequently during the year. Here our semifinalists will duke it out for a chance at history. The dates for the semifinals run from October 27 – 28.

Finals

At last, the League of Legends World Championship Finals will be held in South Korea’s third largest city, Incheon. Here you will find a bustling metropolis and always-busy industrial port. Its vibrant Chinatown and Open Port areas are also a treat for any tourists to visit. The Finals will be held on November 3, and history will be made by a new champion. Over the next few weeks, Riot Games will provide more information on ticket sales and venue locations.

Also, you will notice that the overall duration of Worlds 2018 is shorter than in previous years. According to Riot, “We’re looking to reduce the amount of time pro players and their team staff have to be on the road (particularly when it comes to downtime), as Worlds can represent a commitment of up to a month or longer spent in a foreign country.”

Reasons for the delay?

Additionally, Riot Games’ Global Events lead Derrick Aseidu has given a statement on why the Worlds announcement took so long:

We bet on a Finals venue and it didn’t work out. Both the venue and us were interested in hosting the World Championship Finals, but there were a few variables that meant we had to wait a few more months before getting a firm commitment. In the meantime, we hedged our bets, went searching for a ‘plan B,’ and initiated conversations.

He would go on to explain that, unfortunately, their “plan B” also fell through due to unspecific reasons. Therefore, Riot would go in the month of June with no confirmation of any venue for the Finals.  They also state that in order to prevent something like this from happening again, instead of taking a one-year-ahead approach, they will create a multi-year roadmap. For the biggest event of the year for League of Legends, it only makes sense that there would be a plan many months in advance.

Still, it is an exciting time for League of Legends fans, and we eagerly await the announcement of the venues to come! If you want more information, check out Riot’s website!

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