2025 League of Legends World Championship

2025 League of Legends World Championship
Tournament information
SportLeague of Legends
LocationChina
Dates14 October–9 November
AdministratorRiot Games
Host(s)Beijing (Play-In and Swiss Stages)
Shanghai (Quarterfinals & Semifinals)
Chengdu (Final)
Venue(s)3 (in 3 host cities)
Teams17
PurseUS$5,000,000

The 2025 League of Legends World Championship is an upcoming esports tournament for the multiplayer online battle arena video game League of Legends, set to be held in China from 14 October to 9 November — in Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu. It is the fifteenth iteration of the League of Legends World Championship, an annual international tournament organised by the game's developer, Riot Games.

It will be the third time China will host the event after holding the 2017 and 2020 editions, the first to be held under Riot Games' new split structure and competitive calendar since 2025,[1] and the first to feature the Fearless Draft format.[2] Seventeen teams will qualify based on placement within their regional leagues and results gained in the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).

T1 of the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) are the two-time defending champions heading into the tournament.

Background and host selection

China first hosted the League of Legends World Championship in 2017 with Wuhan, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing serving as host cities. The 2020 edition of Worlds was China's second hosting of the event, but was held under restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China, prompting Riot Games to stage the event through the use of an "isolation bubble" environment in Shanghai,[3] with the exception of the Final at the Pudong Football Stadium where a limited number of fans were allowed to attend.[4]

China was once again awarded the hosting rights to the tournament on 16 June 2021, when Riot Games originally announced the dates and locations of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, with the event taking place in Shanghai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu, and the finals taking place in Shenzhen.[5][6] However, due to travel complications arising from the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, Riot Games announced Reykjavík, Iceland (where the 2021 Mid-Season Invitational had been hosted), as the new host city for the event.[7]

On 24 October 2024, alongside its announcement of an extended sponsorship agreement with smartphone manufacturer OPPO, Riot Games announced that the 2025 edition of the League of Legends World Championship will be staged in China, marking the third time the country has hosted the tournament[8][9] and the first since 2017 for China to host the event without travel restrictions.

Venues

During the media day for the 2024 World Championship Final at The O2 Arena in London, United Kingdom on 1 November 2024, Riot Games announced that the 2025 Final will be held in Chengdu (where the 2024 Mid-Season Invitational had been hosted).

In a development update video published by Riot Games on 8 January 2025 to begin the 2025 competitive season, Beijing and Shanghai were announced as the host cities for the play-in stage / swiss stage, and quarterfinals / semifinals, respectively.[10][11] Both cities previously hosted the Worlds Final, namely the 2017 and 2020 editions.

The full list of venues for the tournament was announced on 25 July 2025.[12] The Beijing Smart Esports Center will host the play-in and swiss stages and is the home venue of the League of Legends Pro League's JD Gaming. The Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, which staged the Shanghai Masters of the 2024 Valorant Champions Tour, will host the quarterfinals and semifinals. The finals will be held at the multifunctional gymnasium of the Dong'an Lake Sports Park in Chengdu.[13]

China
Beijing Shanghai Chengdu
Play-ins and Swiss Stage Quarterfinals and Semifinals Finals
Beijing Smart Esports Center Mercedes-Benz Arena Dong'an Lake Sports Park
Multifunctional Gymnasium
Capacity: 2,000 Capacity: 18,000 Capacity: 18,000
Oct 14 – Oct 25 Oct 28 – Nov 2 Nov 9
成都东安湖体育公园_Chengdu_Dong'an_Lake_Sports_Park_1

Qualification

By virtue of finishing as the two best performing regions in the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational, the League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) and the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) will send four teams each to the tournament, three of whom will automatically qualify for the Swiss stage while the fourth seeds will contest the final Swiss stage spot in the play-in stage.[14] Meanwhile, the League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC), League of Legends Championship of The Americas (LTA), and the League of Legends Championship Pacific (LCP) will have three directly qualified teams to the Swiss stage.[15]

This will be the first World Championship featuring the LCP, a new Asia-Pacific league consisting of a merger between the Pacific Championship Series (PCS), Vietnam Championship Series (VCS), League of Legends Japan League (LJL) and League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO), and the LTA, a merger between the League Championship Series (LCS), Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL), and Liga Latinoamérica (LLA).

Qualified teams

On 23 July 2025, MSI 2025 winners Gen.G of the LCK became the first team to qualify for the tournament after it secured a spot in the LCK playoffs.

Region League Qualification Path Team
Starting from Swiss Stage
South Korea LCK
Season Champion TBD
Season Runner-Up TBD
Season 3rd Place TBD
Asia-Pacific LCP Season Champion TBD
Season Runner-Up TBD
Season 3rd Place TBD
Europe LEC Summer Champion TBD
Summer Runner-Up TBD
Summer 3rd Place TBD
China LPL Split 3 Champion TBD
Championship Points TBD
Regional Finals Winner TBD
Americas LTA LTA North Split 3 Champion[a] TBD
LTA South Split 3 Champion[b] TBD
LTA Playoffs third-ranked team TBD
Starting from Play-in Stage
South Korea LCK 2025 Mid-Season Invitational winner[c] Gen.G
China LPL Regional Finals Runner-Up TBD

Format

The fourth-seeded teams from the LCK and LPL, as a result of obtaining an additional slot from the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational, will play one best-of-five series to determine the last team to qualify for the tournament's swiss stage. Sixteen (16) teams will compete in the swiss stage, where the first eight (8) teams to achieve three (3) wins will advance to the knockout stage, which will be a single-elimination bracket. All matches in the knockout stage are expected to be best-of-fives.

This will also be the first World Championship to adopt the Fearless Draft format, where teams cannot pick a champion that they've already played in a series, even if the opposing team already picked that champion. While Fearless Draft was intended to only be used during the first split of the season, Riot Games announced prior to the final of the 2025 First Stand Tournament that it would apply for the rest of the year, including MSI and Worlds, after it received "overwhelming" positive feedback during that period.[2] Fearless Draft will be used for all best-of-3 and best-of-5 series during the World Championship. It is currently unclear if matches in the first two swiss stages will remain best-of-ones similar to the last two editions of the tournament or if a change will be enacted.

Notes

  1. ^ Best record in North Conference
  2. ^ Best record in South Conference
  3. ^ Lowest possible seed

References

  1. ^ "LoL Esports: Building Towards A Brighter Future". lolesports.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  2. ^ a b Ciocchetti, Cecilia (16 March 2025). "Fearless Draft is here to stay: "Overwhelmingly positive feedback," says Riot's global head of LoL Esports". Dot Esports. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
  3. ^ Rand, Emily; Wolf, Jacob (1 September 2020). "Sources: Vietnamese teams won't attend League of Legends World Championship". ESPN. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  4. ^ Ocal, Arda (10 October 2020). "Limited number of fans to be allowed to attend worlds final in Shanghai". ESPN. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  5. ^ "2020 World Championship final heads to Shanghai". nexus.leagueoflegends.com. 10 November 2019. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  6. ^ Esports, LoL (16 June 2021). "Riot Games Announces Multi-City Lineup for the 2021 League of Legends World Championship in China". lolesports. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  7. ^ Peters, Jay (9 September 2021). "League of Legends' world championships will take place in Iceland". theverge. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  8. ^ Lee Jones (24 October 2024). "2025 League of Legends World Championship heads to China". The Esports Advocate. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  9. ^ "LoL Esports, OPPO Extend Global Partnership". lolesports.com. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
  10. ^ Ciocchetti, Cecilia (8 January 2025). "Riot just dropped the schedule and location for every LoL esports tournament up to 2027". Dot Esports. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  11. ^ "LoL Esports in 2025". lolesports.com. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
  12. ^ "Worlds 2025 Heads to China!". lolesports.com. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  13. ^ Jonno Nicholson (25 July 2025). "League of Legends reveals World Championship 2025 venues and format". Esports Insider. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
  14. ^ Davide Xu (13 August 2025). "Which teams will make it to League of Legends Worlds 2025?". Esports Insider. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  15. ^ Tan, Amanda (11 June 2024). "All LoL Esports 2025 biggest, most unprecedented changes | ONE Esports". ONE Esports. Retrieved 2 November 2024.
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