After a considerable period since the indefinite postponement announcement of the VCS Summer 2021 tournament, the organizing committee of the Vietnam Championship Series has finally provided a follow-up response regarding the fate of the top League of Legends tournament in Vietnam for 2021. The specific content is as follows:
“[Announcement about the VCS organization plan]”
“Sincerely, we have always hoped to bring VCS back as soon as possible. However, the safety of the athletes and the community is our top priority, alongside ensuring the competition standards previously committed to with Riot Games, which are essentially international standards required by our partners for all League of Legends publishing regions, not just Vietnam.”
“To keep the community informed about our direction, here are the two options we are preparing to ensure VCS can take place as soon as possible, as follows:”
– 100% online competition: In the context where the Covid-19 situation is under relatively good control. Specifically, immediately after Directive 16 is lifted or sooner if we can ensure the athletes can compete under safe conditions, alongside maintaining fairness and professionalism of the tournament.
– Offline competition as before: In the event that the Covid-19 situation is completely controlled. Specifically, when the Government allows outdoor cultural sports events to operate normally or permits groups of over 20 people to gather.
“Between these two options, online competition is currently the preferred choice due to its higher feasibility and potential for earlier implementation (expected in Q4), the tournament will take place in fewer days, simpler but still ensures the fairness and professionalism required of a VCS tournament. Additionally, regardless of how this VCS is organized, the salaries of all teams, as well as the prizes for VCS Summer 2021, will remain unchanged, and the promotion criteria for the Spring 2022 tournament will still be implemented.”
“Finally, we completely understand the desires of all teams as well as the League of Legends community in Vietnam; once again, we want to affirm that this is also the wish of the organizing committee. We will strive to provide updates related to the tournament as soon as possible.”
“Thank you to the community for always accompanying and supporting VCS.”
Thus, the content of the announcement from the VCS organizing committee can be summarized into several key points:
– The tournament is still expected to take place, in an online format, and is slated to kick off in Q4. (Depending on the progression of the pandemic situation).
– 100% of the salaries and bonuses of the teams, as well as the promotion and relegation process, will continue to apply, regardless of how VCS Summer 2021 is held.
A noteworthy highlight is that the anticipated start time for the summer tournament is in Q4, which means during the period from September to December. The issue here is that this period also coincides with the Worlds 2021 event. This means that two scenarios could arise:
– 2 teams representing VCS (potentially the top 2 teams from the spring season) will still participate in Worlds 2021, and then the tournament will be held after Worlds concludes (around November – December).
– VCS will continue to be absent from Worlds, focusing on completing the summer tournament.
Furthermore, the VCS organizing committee emphasized that they are working hard to bring the tournament back, which means nothing is certain yet, and the risk of cancellation remains open. In summary, audiences will still have to wait a bit longer to be sure about the fate of VCS Summer 2021. However, with the announcement above, at least League of Legends fans in Vietnam have a clearer understanding of the plans the organizing committee is aiming for regarding the tournament implementation.