With the new 2025 season starting in a few days, Riot Games will be making major changes to the LoL competitive system for 2025.
Image Credit: Riot Games
LoL 2025 – Global competitive changes
Riot has been looking to increase the stakes of the matches in 2025, making format changes to both MSI and Worlds. Going into the new season, the tournament organizer wants to raise the bar again, creating a stronger connection between the two international tournaments.
With that in mind, Riot is making changes to the Worlds slots. The 4 major regions (LEC, LCS, LCK, and LPL) will each get 3 Worlds slots. The PCS and VCS will each retain two and LLA and CBLOL will get one each. Compared to the past editions, the major regions will get fewer guaranteed Worlds slots.
With some slots still vacant, Riot Games has decided to turn MSI into the deciding factor for those seeds. For the first time ever, the winning team at MSI will be awarded a guaranteed spot at Worlds, which also counts as an additional slot for their region. The second slot will be given to the next best-performing region at MSI.
This means that non-major regions will also get the chance to increase their number of participants. While the competition is fierce, everything can happen and this will reward the best teams and regions who also deliver in the first part of the year.
That said, Riot also imposed that the team that qualifies early for Worlds must qualify for their region’s Summer Playoffs except the LEC, where the team would qualify for the LEC Regional Finals. By doing so, it prevents teams from underperforming if they were to qualify for Worlds.
LoL MSI and Worlds Locations confirmed
After confirming that Worlds 2025 will be held in Europe, Riot also revealed the hosting city for the Mid-Season Invitational. The tournament will take place in Chengdu, China, May 1-19. This will be the first time a global LoL Esports event is held in Chengdu. More updates about tickets and schedules will be revealed at a later date.
As for Worlds, Riot will be hosting the Play-Ins and Swiss Stage in the newly remodeled Riot Games Arena in Berlin, Germany. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held in Paris, France, at the Adidas Arena, with the finals taking place in London, UK, at the O2 Arena. Worlds will take place from September 25 to the grand final on November 2.
Introducing the Hall of Legends
Riot wants to commemorate its LoL Esports history and with that in mind, they will be introducing the LoL Esports Hall of Legends, as several pro players will be inducted into Riot’s own Hall of Fame. They will be gathering votes from esports industry veterans and experts from every region to vote and select our very first inductee, who will be celebrated both IRL and in-game. More details will be shared in the coming months, as Riot will be collecting the votes.
