Seoul, Busan to host 2023 LoL World Championship

The annual League of Legends World Championship is scheduled to be held in Seoul and Busan in October.

According to Riot Games Korea, a new game system will be introduced at this year’s LoL Worlds with a total of 22 teams vying for the grand prize of the Summoner’s Cup.

Starting Oct. 10, eight teams -- four pairs -- are set to compete in a double elimination tournament on the Play-In Stage. The preliminaries will take place at LoL Park, the stadium for LoL Champions Korea (LCK), in Jongno-gu, central Seoul.

A total of 16 teams -- two qualifying teams from the Play-In Stage and 14 pre-qualified teams -- will join the newly introduced Swiss Stage, a non-eliminating tournament that offers a fixed number of matches, allowing the players to qualify for the next round by achieving three victories.

The Swiss Stage will be held at KBS Arena in Gangseo-gu, western Seoul, from Oct. 19 to 29.

While Busan will host the knock-out stages at Sajik Gymnasium, the 2023 World Championships Finals will return to Gocheok Sky Dome in Guro-gu, southwestern Seoul, on Nov. 19.

This year marks the LoL World Championship's return to South Korea after five years. The country hosted the global esports event in 2014 and 2018.

“South Korea is where the passionate esports fans and talented pro-gamers are born. We are happy to host the LoL World Championship at the home of esports and LCK,” Riot Games’ press release quoted Naz Aletah, the global head of League of Legends, as saying.

The LoL Worlds is one of the most popular competitive multiplayer video gaming events around the world. The 2022 LoL World Championship Finals, hosted by the US and Mexico, were broadcast in 16 different languages on 21 platforms, according to Riot Games.