LoL Esports announces new leagues for 2025 season

MANILA, Philippines – Riot Games has announced major changes in the competitive scene of its popular battle arena game League of Legends (LoL). In 2025, two new leagues will join the ecosystem of LoL esports: Americas and APAC.

The new league in Asia Pacific (APAC) will bring together top teams from Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macao, Japan, Oceania, and the rest of Southeast Asia in a single league that will showcase regular inter-regional competitions with the best talent, diverse matchups, and fresh rivalries. This will bring together previous competitive tournaments Vietnam Championship Series (VCS), Pacific Championship Series (PCS), League of Legends Japan League (LJL) and League of Legends Circuit Oceania (LCO), which previously earned spots to either the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) or the LoL World Championship based on slot allocations or by regional performance.

In the current plan announced, eight teams will make up the APAC league with teams currently participating in the 2024 Summer splits of VCS, PCS, LJL and LCO, composing the lineup of the 2025 season by winning their respective tournaments. In future seasons, a promotion and relegation model will be used to keep a competitive ecosystem for the region.

The new APAC league will operate with a three-split season, aligned with the new global split structure that Riot Games introduced for all regions. The first split will qualify one team for a new global tournament in March, where they will face off against the best teams from the other four regions. The second split will qualify two teams for the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) in July, and the third and final split will culminate with the APAC Regional Championship, where three teams will advance to the World Championship (Worlds) in October, the biggest LoL esports event of the year.

Similarly, the new Americas league will see the fusion of North America's League Championship Series (LCS), Brazil's Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL) and Latin America's Liga Latinoamérica (LLA) with current teams competing for their 2025 slot in the new league, having the same splits with APAC and the current regions in LoL esports.

Besides the introduction of the new leagues, LoL Esports will also implement a version of “Fearless Draft” for best-of series in the regional and international rounds of the new tournament. In a best-of-series, Fearless Draft effectively bans champions picked in prior games in the series.

In the local setting, Riot Games Philippines is currently hosting the biggest Philippine League of Legends tournament yet, Liga Republika, evolving from last year's Empyrean Cup. Registration is ongoing for Liga Republika's 2024 Open Qualifiers which will begin in July.

"We’re pushing the boundaries of LoL Esports by developing innovative strategies that integrate entertainment, partners, and League of Legends, giving fans new ways to engage with our sport. Examples include co-streaming, Worlds Fan Fest, Hall of Legends, and more. We believe changes outlined here will result in a more competitive and entertaining sport for fans and a more sustainable business model for our teams and Riot Games. We expect it’ll continue to provide us with unforgettable, epic moments as well. It will take time to prove these changes work, and we’ll closely monitor their impact and adjust where we feel it can be beneficial. Thank you to all of our fans, pro players, and teams around the World. We look forward to seeing your feedback," said Riot Games.