Riot officially announces League of Legends 2023 World Championship
26 April 2023
After the Mid-Season Invitational in Busan in 2022 and the two multi-city World Championships (in 2018 and 2014), South Korea is once again getting ready to host a major League of Legends event. From October 10 to November 19 of this year, the League of Legends 2023 World Championship, more popularly known as Worlds 2023, will be taking place in different cities in South Korea. This was very recently announced by Riot Games, the game’s developer, and places another much-anticipated event on the international esports calendar. In this piece, we’ll briefly explain what the coming LoL World Championship will look like and what to look out for.
South Korea knows what it takes
Based on the information that was revealed by Riot Games, fans of League of Legends and esports in general will be in for a treat later this year. Esports and gaming are huge in the Asian nation, and the more experienced players will surely remember the first time South Korea hosted a Worlds, back in 2014. Besides the spectacular on-screen action that ended with 3-1 victory of Samsung White over Star Horn Royal Club (who nowadays are called Royal Never Give Up) in the grand finale, the entourage for the tournament was of another level. The finals were held at the impressive Seoul World Cup Stadium and world-famous band Imagine Dragons provided the music, supported by a full-piece live orchestra. That sounds promising for the upcoming World Championship as well.
“Korea is synonymous with excellence in esports and gaming, with a passionate community of fans and a legacy of developing some of the world’s most talented players”, says Naz Aletaha, Global Head of League of Legends Esports, “We’re thrilled to bring Worlds back to the birthplace of esports and home of the LCK [South Korea’s national LoL league], and look forward to celebrating the best-of-the-best in League with fans in Korea and around the world this fall”.
Five stages in total
While usually the Worlds event is held is September each year, it’s starting a bit later this year due to the postponement of the 2022 Asian Games. These will be held in Hangzhou (China) from September 23 to October 8, and the LoL 2023 World will kick off two days after that. The format of the tournament has been revised and will consist of a total of five stages.
DATE - STAGE
October 10 – October 15, 2023 : Play-In Stage
October 19 – October 23 and October 26 to October 29 : Swiss Stage
November 2 – November 5 : Knock-out Stage: Quarterfinals
November 11 – November 12 : Knock-out Stage: Semifinals
November 19 : Knock-out Stage: Finals
The very first stage will be held at the League of Legends Park in the South Korean capital of Seoul, the same place where the national league is played. The subsequent Swiss Stage will take place at the KBS Arena in the same city, while the first two Knock-out Stages will be played at the Sajik Indoor Gymnasium in Busan. The grand final on November 19 will be hosted at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul, the largest indoor venue in the entire country.