Trophy of the League of Legends World Championshhip. /VCG
The League of Legends World Championship this year (S10) will happen in Shanghai between September 25 and October 31. Meanwhile, next year's championship (S11), will still take place in China, announced Riot Games, the company that developed LOL at the China Digital Entertainment Expo & Conference (ChinaJoy) in Shanghai on Saturday.
"Hosting the event in a single city will reduce travel throughout the tournament and give us the ability to more closely control the show environment. We continue to use the guidance from various health organizations and local and national authorities to prioritize safety for our players, fans, and everyone involved with bringing Worlds 2020 to life," said Riot Games in a statement.
Zong Ming, vice mayor of Shanghai, attended the event and announced that the final match will happen at the Pudong Football Stadium, the home-field-to-be of the Chinese Super league's defending champions Shanghai SIPG and one of the venues for the AFC Asian Cup in 2023.
The construction site of the Pudong Football Stadium in Shanghai, March 15, 2020. /VCG
There's no decision about whether attendance will be allowed during S10 considering there may be a second wave of pandemic coming.
In order to make it up for eSports and LOL fans in the country for this incomplete championship, Riot Games decided to bring it to China again in 2021 in its traditional multi-city tour format. North America will host the 2022 edition.
The LOL professional eSports league on the Chinese mainland, the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), will have at most four teams participate in 10. Two LPL teams, Invictus Gaming (iG) and FunPlus Phoenix (FPX) won the titles in S9 and S10. Currently, This year, two new heavyweights, JD Gaming (JDG) and Top Esports (TES) may go to Shanghai to compete for the throne in S10.