Big changes coming to international LoL esports events in 2023

Riot Games says big changes are in store for League of Legends esports international events in 2023. Here’s what we know about the changes to international LoL events.

At the Worlds 2022 Media Day, Riot Games announced that the form that international LoL events take would be changing in 2023. Here’s what we know for sure about those changes, and what it could likely mean for various regions and leagues.

Riot says changes to international LoL events are coming

At Riot Games’ Worlds 2022 Media Day, League of Legends media had access to some of Riot’s top figures, including Nicolo Laurent, the CEO of Riot Games.

During this event, journalist Travis Gafford of Travis Gafford Industries asked the Riot Games CEO whether or not fans could expect to see changes to the way that League of Legends esports addresses international competition.

Right now there are only two yearly international events, the Mid-Season Invitational and World Championship. Would this change next year?

"format changes are coming" to World
"Will announce at the start of the season"
-both MSI and Worlds

"We think double is perfect for qualifying teams, but worlds is one of the biggest sporting events and all major world sports have single elim"

— Travis Gafford (@TravisGafford) November 4, 2022

Nicolo Laurent confirmed that changes were coming to the format of international events, but wasn’t clear on exactly what sort of changes could be expected.

Rumors have been circulating in the community about a third split being added to conventional play for most franchised regions, likely introducing a third international event should it go through, but these are unconfirmed at the time of writing. At the same time, many fans have long clamored to see format changes like double-elimination and different seedings level the playing field at international events.

Do LoL esports changes mean double-elimination?

Unfortunately for fans hoping to see double elimination brackets become commonplace in League of Legends’ international events, that won’t be the case. Laurents confirmed that the format changes that were coming would not include a double-elimination format, citing that most traditional sporting events at the highest level were single-elimination in nature.

While Laurent was clear that double-elimination wasn’t in the cards, he wasn’t clear exactly what Riot Games had decided to make. But he did say that the changes would be revealed at the start of next year’s season of play.