Riot Games, publisher of “League of Legends,” is hitting the play button on esports events.
The Los Angeles-based game maker will hold its League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) in Reykjavik, Iceland starting May 6, with the championship on May 23. Beginning the next day at the same site: The Valorant Champions Tour Masters Reykjavík, which will be the first holding of live international competition involving the popular 5-on-5 shooting game, launched in June 2020.
Nearly 46 million people watched the “League of Legends” world championship event in October 2020 in Shanghai. But Riot Games decided against holding an in-person mid-season competition during the upsurge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Competition in the League of Legends MSI will involve the top 12 teams from the regional leagues.
At the Valorant Champions Tour Masters – the final is scheduled for May 30 – the top 10 teams from around the world will compete for a spot at the Champions competition later this year.
“This is the first time the world will get to see which region is best so far on ‘Valorant’,” said Naz Aletaha, Riot Games’ head of global esports partnerships and business development.
Both will be viewable on YouTube (LoL Esports and Valorant Esports NA) and on Twitch at Riot Games. For news leading up to the competitions, you can follow lolesports.com and
