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The Opening Day announcement for the League of Legends 2021 Season revealed the future of LoL esports, as well as a peek into what awaits for Wild Rift.
John Needham, Global Head of esports at Riot Games, revealed a bunch of new information to kick start the second decade of League of Legends esports.
He claims that the 2021 Season is set to be the biggest and most eventful season in the history of League of Legends.
Additionally, Riot's Global Head of Esports also revealed that Wild Rift Open Beta's massive success guarantees a bright future in esports for the handheld title.
Designed with the goal of presenting gamers with the authentic League of Legends experience on mobile, Wild Rift could be gearing up for its first esports tournament following its global release. Wild Rift is only available in select regions with further regions supposed to gain access in 2021.
Here's everything to know about the upcoming changes to the League of Legends esports scene in the 2021 Season.
League of Legends and Wild Rift esports in 2021
With regional leagues starting from January 9, the League of Legends Spring season is all set to be an enthralling event, as all the top teams return to action. The official starting dates for all the regional leagues for League of Legends are:
- LPL - January 9
- LCK - January 13
- LCS - Janaury 15
- CBLOL - Janaury 16
- VCS - January 21
- LEC - Janaury 22
- LJL - January 23
- TCL - January 23
- LLA - Janaury 30
- PCS - February 5
- LCL - February 13
Additionally, League of Legends World Championship 2021 is set to be the first of its kind. Riot Games has confirmed that the 2021 World Championships will be held in China. The Global Head of Esports at Riot Games also revealed that instead of being conducted in a single city, this year's Worlds will see the teams travel across cities in China for various matches.
The Finals of the League of Legends World Championships 2021 will be held in the city of Shenzhen. Riot Games has also claimed that the 2021 World Championships is going to be the biggest esport event and one of the biggest sporting events of all time.
Moving on to Wild Rift, the developers confirmed that the mobile version of League of Legends will feature the same competitive nature. Apart from being "wildly competitive," Wild Rift also features some of League of Legends' advanced features. These features include:
- Depth of game knowledge
- Complexity levels for each unique hero
- High stakes, game-determining moments.
With these three features, the developers believe that Wild Rift already has what it takes to become a great esport. Nevertheless, the developers did mention that all of it is still very early. Given that Wild Rift is still in regional open beta, it could take months for the game to reveal its final plans related to esports.
Nevertheless, Riot Games announcement on the Season 2021 opening day brings a lot of joyous news for the community. With so much to look forward to in 2021, Riot Games is certainly setting the stage for their biggest season ever.
