Gaming
Riot Games announces date and venue for 2021 League of Legends World Championship
Dimapur, May 23 (EMN): Riot Games has announced on Friday that the 2021 League of Legends World Championship will take place in Shenzhen, China on November 6.
The company has confirmed that the much-anticipated esports event will be an in-person experience similar to last year’s League of Legends finals. The tournament is to be held at the Shenzhen Universiade Sports Centre, a stadium that is home to the Chinese Super League club Shenzhen FC. It reportedly has a capacity of 60,334, however, there might be restrictions on fan attendance for the event. Riot Games has stated that “more details” on the event will be revealed at later dates.
2021 League of Legends Worlds Final Date, Venue Set
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) May 22, 2021
More info: https://t.co/JBnnoATold pic.twitter.com/nTIFAMrm5r
The 2020 competition in Shanghai was held successfully despite the Covid-19 pandemic. Teams were made to compete in an “isolation bubble” environment to protect the competitors. The event concluded with virtually no problems, although two Vietnamese teams couldn’t attend due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. In the end, South Korean team Damwon Gaming emerged as the winner of the championship.
DAMWON GAMING ARE THE 2020 WORLD CHAMPIONS! ???? #Worlds2020 pic.twitter.com/5ugqBGJ0cs
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) October 31, 2020
“We’re extremely excited to push the boundaries of entertainment and sport this year with Worlds 2021 and define the next 10 years of LoL Esports,” said John Needham, Global Head of Esports for Riot Games.
“Shenzhen is China’s most competitive and innovative city with thousands of high-tech startups and entrepreneurial pursuits, so we felt that it was the perfect landscape to host our Finals,” Needham stated.
Riot‘s decision to host a second in-person League of Legends World Championship event might also encourage other esports organisers to start hosting in-person events and ditch virtual events altogether. Call of Duty League, Valorant‘s VCT Masters Stage 2 and Overwatch League are some of the esports events that have already announced a return to physical competition.