Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Riot Games managed to hold last year’s League of Legends championship event in-person and is giving the competition another go this year.
The developer recently announced that the 2021 World Championship will be held in Shenzhen, China on November 6th. There was limited information about the event and so was no mention of safety measures they are taking against the pandemic.
During the 2020 competition in Shanghai they relied on an ‘isolation bubble’ to ensure the health of the competitors was protected. The event proceeded as planned with a few contestants dropping out, which allowed for substitute players to take their place in the competition.
The decision to hold a in person competition reflects a revival of in-person esports competition in 2021. Holding the World Championship in Shenzhen came as organises of other events grew confident that vaccinations would allow the event to go ahead. Following this move it is likely to see other leagues going back to in person events.
