Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a massive amount of rescheduling and postponing for in-person events. Developers and organizers seem scrambled to find a medium between holding events and not spreading potentially-fatal viruses in the process, and the two seem to contradict each other quite strongly.
Recently, they announced two changes to their in-person events: the removal of in-person events for the LCS season, and the postponement of MSI 2020 from May to July. In a previous announcement, Riot discussed their intentions with the MSI tournament and what they hope to do given the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
“After discussing with our leagues and other stakeholders, we’ve made the decision to move our annual mid-year global tournament from May to July this year,” Riot’s John Needham writes. “Shifting the tournament to the summer offers the best chance to see travel restrictions lifted, allowing teams from leagues around the world to travel and compete safely.”
The competition is now set to begin on Friday, July 3rd and conclude on Sunday, July 19th. Riot hopes that doing so will give the virus a chance to slow and die down a bit, allowing for the lifting on the many travel bans that are in place across the world at the moment.
2020 Mid-Season Invitational Moved from May to July #MSI2020
Read more here: https://t.co/FHD5CgIsD3 pic.twitter.com/SryvyBvgH8
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) March 10, 2020
Location and other details haven’t yet been shared, and Riot stresses the need to remain flexible due to the massive impact that COVID-19 has had across the world, especially on travel and live events. Despite these issues, though, Riot seems determined to ensure that MSI remains “a truly globally resonant experience.”
Due to this change, Riot is also rescheduling the Summer Split start dates, which will now begin before MSI. Riot lays out the new dates, which are as follows:
- OPL – May 15th
- VCS – May 15th
- LCS – May 16th
- TCL – May 16th
- LCK – May 20th
- LEC – May 22nd
- CBLOL – May 23rd
- LPL – May 23rd
- PCS – May 30th
- LLA – May 30th
- LJL – May 31st
- LCL – June 6th
Additionally, Riot has decided to sunset Rift Rivals in the regions where it was still scheduled to take place. While it definitely was an enjoyable tournament, Riot feels that the challenges it added to the annual schedule were too taxing to continue holding, especially given the current tumultuousness of event scheduling. In closing, Riot thanks everyone for being as patient as possible and hopes to be able to have their seasons continue with as little impact as possible.
