Here’s Why League of Legends World Finals Will Be in China in 2020
Riot Games announced that the 2020 League of Legends World Championships will take place in China, and the company has now given their reasoning.
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Riot Games recently revealed that China will play host to the League of Legends World Championships in 2020, and now the developer has explained why it made that choice. The announcement itself came a few days ago at the conclusion of the grand finals of the 2019 World Championships in Paris, France.
Riot’s internationally popular MOBA holds its World Championships in a different location every year, and they have become some of the most-watched tournaments in the world – even compared to more traditional sports. Chinese-Korean team FunPlus Phoenix won the League World Championships this year, defeating the European G2 Esports with a 3-0 victory in the best-of-five grand final. With this victory, the cup will go to Chinese players for the second year in a row, and Chinese fans were even happier when Riot announced that the 2020 World Championships would be held in Shanghai. Next year’s final is set to take place at the Shanghai Stadium, which holds up to 55,000 attendees.
Now, Riot Games has explained why it chose Shanghai as the 2020 venue in a response to Game Daily. The company said that Shanghai is already the headquarters of the LPL, China’s premier League of Legends esports league and purveyor of China’s regional League Championship Series. It also praised Shanghai as a world-class city and one of the biggest esports centers in the world. “The energy and passion from our fans when the metropolis hosted the 2017 World Championship semifinals was unbelievable,” a Riot spokesperson said. “We are excited to return to Shanghai in 2020.” Regarding Riot’s city selection process, the spokesperson stated that it is similar to the traditional sports model. “We look for cities that have a vibrant fanbase, that are receptive to League of Legends esports, and that have the infrastructure to ensure the best experience possible for our fans and players.”
This will be the second time that China has hosted the League World Championships, the first being Beijing in 2017. Shanghai has never technically hosted the finals before, but the city has certainly been involved. The 2017 World Championships semifinals that the Riot spokesperson referred to happened in Shanghai. Those matches were between Samsung Galaxy vs. Team WE and SK Telecom T1 vs. RNG before the grand final at the Bird’s Nest Stadium in Beijing between Samsung Galaxy and SKT. When asked by Game Daily, Riot reconfirmed that North America will host the finals in 2021 – although the company did not confirm a city.
The move to host the 2020 tournament in Shanghai has prompted some mild controversy, bleeding over from a general disdain for the Chinese government after the avalanche of criticism surrounding Blizzard’s punishment of a Hearthstone player who voiced support for Hong Kong protesters. Still, most players don’t seem to have a problem with the decision; moreover, Riot Games is owned by a Chinese company. The developer communicated its policy on “personal views” in its broadcasts before this year’s championships. It may still come off as a blanket policy that serves the company’s own business interests, but fans seem more interested in the benefits of holding the League of Legends championships in Shanghai and which teams will ultimately compete.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/why-league-legends-world-finals-china-2020/