Previous to the 2025 World Finals, Riot Video games revealed its plans for the League of Legends esports worldwide ecosystem in 2026.
This included main updates to event codecs and the continued enlargement of world occasions.
Alongside these developments, Riot can be exploring third-party worldwide occasions and potential nation-based tournaments. As such, conversations across the Esports Olympics — and different world collaborations — proceed to evolve.
“I really don’t know what the IOC is considering the place they wish to take Esports within the Esports Olympics going ahead,” stated Chris Greeley, Head of League of Legends Esports, in an interview with Esports Insider.
He added: “I feel nation-based competitions are tremendous attention-grabbing. There was a time once I thought it didn’t make a variety of sense, however I’ve come round on it so much.”
Earlier than the League of Legends World Championship Finals 2025, Greeley sat down with Esports Insider to additionally focus on the upcoming season’s worldwide construction, together with its choice to host Worlds in Texas and New York.
Esports Insider: Is there an announcement on Media Day that you simply wish to focus on with us for the 2026 League of Legends esports season?
Greeley: So, First Stand subsequent yr we’ll have eight groups, in order that format will change a bit of bit. We’re increasing from the 5 that we ran this yr. We’ll be together with Brazil independently since CBLOL is again, and we’ll be bringing a second seed from each the LCK and LPL.
The Worlds Finals subsequent yr are in New York Metropolis — that’s a cool one. We’re going to 2 cities Worlds subsequent yr: we’re going to do Play In, Swiss, Quarters and Semis in Texas. The opposite choice would’ve been to do Play-In/Swiss on the studio in LA, however combining all of it into one venue provides us the chance to succeed in extra followers, regardless that we are going to solely be in two cities for ’26.
ESI: When Worlds involves the Americas area, I’d usually suppose Riot would select a South American metropolis to host a part of the occasion. Would you ever take into account going to, for instance, Chile or one other metropolis in Brazil? What was the thought course of of selecting Texas?
Greeley: So final time we have been in North America was 2022. We did the Play In stage in Mexico Metropolis, which was nice. Nice venue, nice followers, and a variety of pleasure, which was incredible.
That was the identical yr although that we had additionally deliberate to go to Toronto and we needed to change on the final minute and transfer our semifinals to Atlanta, which was an ideal host metropolis. Very unhappy for followers in Toronto the place now we have a variety of gamers and the true piece there was simply logistics and visas and that makes kind of multi-country hopping within the Americas actually troublesome.
So there’s additionally a giant journey burden on groups if we fly everybody down, for instance, to Chile or Brazil and a 13-hour flight to get again up into the US. So we must do a kind of full South American Worlds, which may very well be tremendous attention-grabbing. It’s simply that logistically now we have performed so many occasions in North America kind of throughout each Canada, the US and Mexico, that it’s logistically a lot simpler for us.
Then now we have our distributors, and it’s simpler from a price range perspective as nicely. Regardless that it’s a bit of bit dearer to do a present within the US, you kind of know who to name for all of the issues that you simply want. We do have nice groups on the bottom in Brazil and in Latin America, however they’re additionally a lot smaller than the groups now we have on the bottom within the US. That makes the present a bit of bit tougher.
However that’s the place now we have nice occasions, like First Stand, that we’re capable of take to Brazil subsequent yr, and we’re wanting aggressively for extra third-party alternatives.
Individuals who wish to run occasions like…I don’t know if you happen to watched any of the Asian Invitational this yr? The cricket was superior, and their opening ceremony. So Asian Invitational was one thing that we had began speaking about again at First Stand when kind of all of the regional leads and my staff got here collectively to determine what the longer term ought to seem like and we thought ‘wouldn’t it’s nice if we had a event the place the groups who didn’t qualify for a global occasion might go and their gamers get extra publicity?’
We get to inform extra tales, we create extra rivalries. Groups and sponsors get extra publicity, followers get extra League, which is only a good factor. We’re actually completely satisfied to seek out companions who’re keen to return together with us on that journey and function the occasion for us.
So I feel we’re on the lookout for extra occasions like that, extra alternatives to get extra groups from extra areas concerned. It’s simply that if you happen to’re a perennial sixth-place staff and also you by no means go to a global occasion, it’s a a lot totally different existence in our ecosystem than if you happen to’re G2 and also you’re at each worldwide occasion. So it’s a very good stability for us and one which we actually wish to try to be extra inbound on.
ESI: Since we’re speaking in regards to the Americas internationals, a really fast query. Did you take into account, or have you ever heard followers focus on bringing extra seeds for South America at internationals subsequent yr?
Greeley: I imply, I’ve definitely heard from followers, and so they’ve been very sturdy and passionate, and I feel [LTA South] efficiency within the LTA finals was positively understood. However I don’t know if we’re seeking to make a right away change for 2026. It’s one thing I feel we have a tendency to provide out worldwide slots over an extended time frame, but it surely’s one thing we’re positively going to maintain our eye on.
We’re excited to make it possible for Brazil is at First Stand and that they’re capable of proceed to ship groups and may specific that fandom, and we’ll hold watching how all of that evolves as we have a look at modifications for future worldwide occasions.
ESI: How did the debut of First Stand go in your eyes? Did it exceed your expectations, and the way does it look in your long-term planning for LoL Esports?
Greeley: I feel I advised you in our final interview that beginning a brand new occasion is frightening, particularly a smaller one. It was solely seven days, 5 groups. I feel one of many issues we heard from followers was that the occasion felt small and didn’t really feel overly aggressive. Particularly Hanwha Life Esports was in some sort of type, and simply ran everyone over on the occasion. Even Korean followers have been like ‘this simply isn’t enjoyable to observe.’ However we received wonderful tales out of it.
It was the beginning of the CTBC Flying Oyster story that we received to comply with all yr, all the best way into quarterfinals final week. I feel we received to see so much from KC, and it was nice to see that staff. They fell off to start with after which had this nice resurgence, and so they performed such an ideal event as nicely. So I feel there have been a variety of good issues that got here out of First Stand.
Clearly, we tried some issues with our HUD that followers didn’t love, however we’ve used that as a possibility to interact extra instantly. I feel it received significantly better at MSI. I’ve heard virtually no complaints about it at Worlds. I feel folks like the place it has usually landed, and I feel the staff engaged on it was actually vocal about getting out on social media and simply displaying some work, and so they’re like, ‘do you want this? Do you not like this?’ And people people have advised me they received a variety of actually nice suggestions. From that, First Stand continues to be someplace the place we wish to experiment.
We might be asserting as we speak that we’re going full Better of 5 for First Stand subsequent yr. So we’ll get extra video games, which I feel might be nice. We clearly have extra groups now, so the format should change a bit of bit. We’ll discuss that a bit of bit at season begin, however we discuss making an attempt new or greater issues for First Stand because it’s a spot we regularly begin. It’s like: ‘nicely, what if we took First Stand and did X?’ So we’ve received some cool stuff kind of on the whiteboard for 2027. Don’t know if we’re going to have the ability to sort of pull all of it off, but it surely’s huge and bold, and I feel followers will like it. However going to, I don’t know if we’re really going to have the ability to ship it.
So we like the place it landed. We hope followers take pleasure in it extra this yr than they did final yr, and that’s kind of the aim yearly. MSI this yr broke all of our viewership information for the remainder of the world. We noticed a variety of actually good suggestions on the best way that the format has advanced, and the competitiveness has advanced. We wish to hold sort of hitting that mark for all of our occasions, however First Stand being so new and so younger, we’re simply looking for the precise spot for it to slot in the ecosystem and for it to have its personal id going ahead.
ESI: One query that has been recurring in our interviews is the Olympics. Final time, you advised me that you simply have been in talks with the IOC, however there was nothing closing; it was simply exploratory. With the modifications that the IOC made in distancing itself from its partnership with Saudi Arabia, has one thing modified? Or are you continue to heading in the right direction of possibly getting League of Legends to the Olympics?
Greeley: I really don’t know what the IOC is considering the place they wish to take Esports within the Esports Olympics going ahead.
I’m unsure if there’s another person at Riot having these conversations, however kind of put up the cut up, it’s only a huge query mark for me. I feel nation-based competitions are tremendous attention-grabbing. There was a time once I thought it didn’t make a variety of sense since you have been primarily simply in a world the place you’re anticipating a Korea versus China Remaining. It might seem like the Asian Video games, and we have already got the Asian Video games. After which I went to an EMEA Masters occasion within the finals in France a few years in the past and noticed the fandom when it was a Spanish staff and a French staff.
ESI: Was it in Montpellier?
Greeley: Sure, it was. And simply the vitality within the constructing, you kind of realise the finals match doesn’t matter. It’s all the matches in between, which is sort of the best way fandom typically works at Worlds.
NA and EU followers typically dwell for the NA vs. EU matchup, even when it’s in Swiss and never within the Finals. So having the ability to possibly lean into a few of these rivalries, whether or not they’re intra-Europe or one thing like Brazil and Canada, which we discover nice, and I feel the Canada vs US match would even be nice. A whole lot of these gamers are teammates, so having them play towards one another could be attention-grabbing. So I’ve come round on it so much. I simply don’t understand how that’s going to specific itself in League of Legends and the place that comes out.
We’ve talked about every part from Euro Cups to America’s Cups to the total sort of World Cup of League of Legends. We don’t have any; that’s not the plan on the whiteboard, however it’s one thing that we’re persevering with to speak about within the background and on the lookout for the precise alternative.
ESI: Will there be modifications to MSI or Worlds’ codecs?
Greeley: We’re including Brazil to each of them, so nicely, I assume we’re including the LCS additional slot again to each of them, so you possibly can take it any manner you need. However there’ll be 11 groups at MSI this yr.
So the Play-In will nonetheless be 4 groups, however we’re solely going to qualify one out of the Play-In into the bracket. We haven’t labored out seeding but. That’s happening behind the scenes proper now. We’ll have 18 groups at Worlds subsequent yr. We’re nonetheless engaged on how that’s going to play out, however the remainder of it’ll keep the identical. Finest of 5 double elimination bracket for MSI Swiss into Knockouts for Worlds, but it surely’s simply the standard.
ESI: Lastly, no double elimination for Worlds?
Greeley: No double elimination coming for Worlds.
