On Friday, January 5, 2024, Raiatto Games, LLC announced an update on the eSports scene surrounding the League of Legends (LoL) in the year 2024. The 2024 season will see major changes in the game, as well as adjustments to the pro scene.
Starting in 2024, the number of slots for MSI and Worlds will change
LoL has professional leagues in regions around the world, and Japan is no exception. The best teams from each region that make it through the regular season gather together for the Mid-Season Invitational ("MSI") and the League of Legends World Championship ("Worlds") ". The two countries are held once a year. Both international tournaments, held once a year, are the culmination of the LoL Pro League. The world's hottest battles will be fought. The latest information on "MSI 2024" and "Worlds 2024" has been released!
Starting with the "MSI 2024" to be held in Chengdu, China from May 1 (Wed) to May 19 (Sun), 2024, the winning team will be awarded the right to participate in the Worlds. This is in addition to the slots that the original region has, so more teams from the region of the MSI winner will be able to participate in the Worlds. However, even teams that win a slot will not be able to exercise that right unless they participate in the Summer playoffs of their regional league (except for LEC), so they must be on their toes.
In addition, the region to which the MSI runner-up team belongs will be given an additional slot in the Worlds. Since this is a quota granted to a region, another team that is not an MSI team may be able to take advantage of it.
For Worlds 2024, scheduled for Wednesday, September 25 through Saturday, November 2, 2024 in London, England, the basic Worlds slots for LEC, LCS, LCK, and LPL will be changed to three slots each. The number of slots for each region is summarized as follows
- LEC (Europe): 3 slots
- LCS (North America): 3
- LCK (Korea): 3
- LPL (China): 3 slots
- PCS(Pacific): 2 slots
- VCS(Vietnam): 2 slots
- LLA(Latin America): 1 slot
- CBLOL (Brazil): 1 slot
And so on.... One slot will be added for the region to which the MSI runner-up team belongs, and if the MSI winner advances to the Summer Playoffs in their region, they will receive a special slot. So the Worlds will be a battle of up to 20 teams.
The League of Legends Japan League will no longer have a slot in the Worlds until 2023, and the top teams from the LJL will compete in the PCS playoffs for a spot in the Worlds in 2024. Until now, DetonatioN FocusMe has been the dominant team, but now they will have to compete against teams from around the world to win a slot in the Worlds. Let's hope that this measure will lead to further competitiveness and raise the level of Japan as a whole!
Details of the announcement regarding the e-sports scene surrounding LoL in 2024 can be found on the official LoL Esports website.