The 14th season of League of Legends esports is almost here, and Riot Games has announced changes to mark this occasion. The new 2024 roadmap has plenty of talking points, with the Mid-Season Invitational gaining further importance and the LEC (League of Legends EMEA Championship). Beginning next weekend coming into the limelight as well.
Global competitive changes
The game’s developer has been looking to enhance the stakes around its competitions. To that effect, it made format changes to the MSI and Worlds to eliminate matches that didn’t contribute to the tournament’s outcome in the 2023 season.
For the upcoming calendar, Riot aims to bring a stronger connection between these two international LoL events. To that effect, the MSI winner will be handed direct entry into the LoL World Championship for the first time ever. Thus affecting each region’s slot for the latter. There will now be three berths for the LEC, LCS, LCK, and LPL at the mega event. The PCS and VCS will retain their two spots each, with a similar treatment going to the LLA and CBLOL (one place each).
This also means the MSI champion gains an additional slot for its region, while the next-best performing region will secure an extra seed. Moreover, to ensure the side that has qualified for the season-ending extravaganza gives its regional league importance, it must have qualified for the Summer Playoffs. The exception is the LEC, as the team will advance to the Regional Finals.
Changes to LEC season in 2024
Sticking with the Europe, the Middle East, and Africa league, it has also seen minor tweaks as the organizer wants to enrich the competition. But first, readers must note that the event will broadcast from its new esports home — the Riot Games Arena (previously LEC Studio) in Berlin, Germany — in line with the plans it first revealed last November.
With the target of making it easier to understand and follow the action, each LEC split’s Group Stage and Playoffs have been merged into a single bracket. The number of best-of-3 and best-of-5 series remains the same, with repeat matchup protection for the Lower Bracket meaning sides that met in the Upper Round 1 will not battle it out again in the Lower Round 2.
The scheduling has also seen modifications, with an added week’s break between the Winter and Spring splits and the interval between the latter and the MSI. In order to balance this added time off, Riot has reduced the recess between the Summer Split and the LEC Season Finals by a week.
For all the details regarding LEC changes for 2024, including Championship Points and tiebreakers, season finals qualification, pre-season champions’ queue, and player age limit, readers can head here.
Locations of the two major international events disclosed
Riot Games also revealed in the blog that the MSI 2024 will be held from May 1 to 19 in Chengdu, China. It is the first time a global LoL esports event will be held in the capital of the country’s southwestern Sichuan province.
The American company had said at the previous edition in October-November that the Worlds 2024 would return to Europe, with the Finals taking place in London, England. The venues for the rest of the stages were also revealed on January 4, with Berlin’s newly remodeled Riot Games Arena hosting the Play-Ins and Swiss Stages before the circus moves to the Adidas Arena in Paris, France, for the Quarterfinals and Semifinals.
A LoL esports Hall of Legends, the discipline’s unique version of a Hall of Fame, was also announced to commemorate its 14th year. An independent voting panel of esports industry veterans and experts from every region will vote and select the very first inductee. Moreover, every year, those inducted will have their historic careers celebrated both IRL and in-game!
Regional league start dates
Lastly, the start dates for the regional leagues for the start of the 2024 competitive season were publicized, as seen below:
It is gearing up to be another vital and exciting season of League of Legends action, and with the changes made by Riot, fans will be interested in seeing how the first splits of the year turn out. They can also tune in to Esports Charts for regular viewership coverage of these competitions and other disciplines.