Continuing an ongoing trend of renewed community outreach, Riot Games has launched the Twitch Rivals tournament, a contest featuring some of League of Legends’ most beloved personalities as they compete for a $75,000 prize pool.
The event will feature a bracket of 16 teams competing in best-of-three series play, with each game using “blind pick” rules, allowing one-trick players to use their signature champions without fear of bans.
Famed content creators ranging in rank from silver to challenger, including such name as Michael “Imaqtpie” Santana and Jeremy “DisguisedToast” Wang, will be competing and streaming their own perspectives on their personal Twitch accounts. The competition will run through one week until the event’s final is played between the top two teams.
Since the development of its content creator program and the newly revised All-Stars format debuted in 2018, Riot has been making an increasing effort to connect with prominent members of the game’s community to bolster viewer interest. Taking a cue from other successful games like Epic Games’ Fortnite, Riot has resolved to support the entertainers that best hold their players’ attention.
The content creator program helped give original content creators incentives to provide to their viewers to play League of Legends. In return, Riot has featured them prominently and given them various exclusive benefits.
The All-Stars event, for the first time, featured streamers in roughly half of its competitor slots, with entertainers hailing from every participating region. 2018 All-Stars became one of the most successful All-Stars events in League of Legends history with an average concurrent viewership of over 13 million.
Riot has looked to become more consistent in their interactions with fans and creatives alike. The focus on such initiatives as the creator program and All-Stars are proof of that effort, and Twitch Rivals seems to be the next step in that plan. The event will also help to continue bridging the offseason gap before major regions resume competitive play.
Twitch Rivals begins on January 15.
Players must be 21 years of age or older or reach the minimum age for gambling in their respective state and located in jurisdictions where online gambling is legal. Please play responsibly. Bet with your head, not over it. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, and wants help, call or visit: (a) the Council on Compulsive Gambling of New Jersey at 1-800-Gambler or www.800gambler.org; or (b) Gamblers Anonymous at 855-2-CALL-GA or www.gamblersanonymous.org.
