Riot Games is hosting the first official League of Legends event in the Middle East and North Africa. The Nexus is a three-day festival that includes League tournament, a Teamfight Tactics competition, 1v1 fights, concerts, and more.
The event is happening in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, starting on December 5. For the first time in the ten-year history of League of Legends, the MENA region is finally getting an official tournament. Even though it’s not a big one, it’s just the beginning of Riot’s development of the MENA scene.
The Nexus’ main event will see eight teams that qualified through different regional tournaments participate. Each qualifier tournament had two Nexus spots to share, including the Gulf Cooperation Council Qualifier, Levant Qualifier, North African Qualifier, and the Saudi Arabian Qualifier.
Participating teams are amateur teams from MENA that are now getting the chance to prove they are competent to fight with teams from other big regions on an international stage. Teams will be competing for a share of $850,000 prize pool Riot has set in place.
The tournament will be streamed on Riot’s official Arabia Twitch channel, and it doesn’t seem like there will be an English translation at first.
Riot has its official leagues set all over the place, in North America, Europe, Brazil, China, Korea, Turkey, and more. Most of the regions have seasonal leagues set in place that determine participants in the Worlds Championships, as well as amateur tournaments that nourish new talent.
The MENA region hasn’t been included in Riot’s esports dominance across the world. But with The Nexus tournament being set in place, the organization has taken the first necessary step towards building yet another potentially strong scene. Not only will The Nexus show if MENA teams are at a satisfying level of competitive play, it will also bring new fans to League of Legends esports that make up another important community.
With Riot also preparing to open a dedicated server and localised game for the region, it’s in the organization’s interest to solidify their presence in the market which will likely lead to another seasonal championship. More information about The Nexus is available here.
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