A few hours ago, journalist Tyler Erzberger from Upcomer reported that Riot Games is about to make an official announcement regarding the last-minute relocation of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship (CKTG 2021) from China to Europe.
The initial reason given is that Riot Games is currently unable to resolve issues related to the movement and entry of foreign teams into China, as the country is facing a new outbreak of COVID-19.
The LPL Summer 2021 tournament is currently being held without an audience since the Playoffs stage due to the complicated developments of the pandemic in the country. China is also tightening entry and exit policies in preparation for a new pandemic prevention campaign. Therefore, if the CKTG 2021 is held in China, many teams will not be able to participate due to entry restrictions.
The CKTG 2021 was originally planned to be hosted in the cities of Shanghai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Shenzhen in China. Last year, the CKTG 2020 had to take place without an audience (except for the finals, which allowed a limited number of spectators). This was the reason Riot agreed to let China continue to host the CKTG 2021 (two consecutive years) as a way to “make up” for the 2020 tournament.
However, faced with the prospect of CKTG 2021 in China being another audience-free event, which would mean continued financial losses and revenue drops, Riot Games has been forced to make the decision to change the location, with Europe being the selected region.
The last time Europe hosted the CKTG was in 2019, and that was also the last international tournament that allowed spectators. In reality, the infection situation in this region is not significantly better than other areas. According to Upcomer, the United Kingdom is still one of the countries with alarming COVID-19 infection rates, with around 32,000 new cases every day.
However, in the UK and some other countries, major sporting events are still being held with the presence of fans. The Premier League has welcomed spectators back to stadiums since the start of the 2021-2022 season. Currently, several European countries have successfully vaccinated a large portion of their population, and perhaps Riot Games is relying on this factor to realize the hope of organizing a “fan-inclusive” CKTG, although the specific venue has not yet been revealed.
According to reports from Upcomer, Riot Games will soon make an official announcement through media outlets regarding the change of venue for CKTG 2021 today, August 24.