League of Legends World Championship Returns to NA and Korea

LoL World Championship 2024, which took place in Europe (Germany, France, and England), is in the rearview mirror, and the preparations for LoL Worlds 2025 are in full swing.

The 15th iteration of the annual international esports tournament will head to China for the third time since its inception in 2011.

However, while the plans for the 2025 LoL esports season have already been laid out, it was not until today that Riot Games shed more light on the upcoming seasons.

In a developer update video which talked about LoL Season 16, the team unveiled more information about League of Legends’ international tournaments.

LoL Worlds, considered the pinnacle of LoL esports season will this year head to China and will be held across three cities.

The Play-In and Swiss Stage will take place in Beijing, while the quarterfinals and semifinals will move to Shanghai.The tournament will culminate with the Grand Final, which is set to take place in Chengdu.

The exact venues for LoL Worlds 2025 have yet to be confirmed and will be unveiled later this year.

In 2026, LoL Worlds will return to North America for the first time since 2022 and the fifth time since 2012. While NA was confirmed as the next host country, Riot have yet to share and information on states, cities, and venues.

Riot Games also made plans two years in advance, revealing Korea as the host country for LoL Worlds 2027. South Korea hosted its last world championship in 2018, when Fnatic defied the odds and made the grand finals, becoming the first Western LoL esports team to accomplish that feat.

Besides sharing information about LoL Worlds, Riot Games also unveiled host countries for its other two international events – the Mid-Season Invitational and the newly-introduced First Stand.

The first LoL international esports tournament on the schedule is the newly-introduced First Stand 2025, which will take place in South Korea on March 10-16, following the conclusion of the first split.