After Faker's elimination, Riot Games seems to be slacking off! The venue for the Kickoff event is revealed, with a capacity of only 140 spectators.

Hello to all LPL viewers and League of Legends summoners, this is World Game Hub.

The first split of the S15 season is nearing its end across major regions. The LCK has already determined the two teams advancing to the Kickoff event, while the LPL has entered the semifinal stage. It can be said that the first international tournament of the split is getting closer and closer.

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However, recent announcements from Riot Games about the Kickoff event have sparked strong dissatisfaction among the audience.

Kickoff event venue announced, capacity only 140 people

Recently, Riot Games officially released details for the first split's international tournament—the Kickoff event. This event will be held at the Riot Games Arena in São Paulo, Brazil, from March 16th to March 22nd. The competition is divided into three stages: group stage, knockout stage, and finals.

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The currently announced daily schedule starts at 9 PM Beijing Time, which is not very friendly for Asian viewers. However, considering the time difference with Brazil, this schedule is relatively accommodating to the Asian region.

Eight teams will participate in the Kickoff event, with two teams each from the Chinese and Korean regions.

After the specific information was released, foreign media commented on Riot's venue arrangement—the small capacity of the Kickoff event venue has caused strong dissatisfaction within the League of Legends community.

The last international event held in Brazil took place at the Ginásio do Maracanãzinho in Rio de Janeiro, which could accommodate 15,430 spectators. In contrast, this year's Kickoff event in Brazil will be held in a venue that can only seat around 140 people. Upon hearing this news, the audience was shocked.

After Faker's elimination, Riot Games appears to be slacking off

GEN's CEO Arnold expressed his dissatisfaction on social media, bluntly stating that there were more guests at his wedding than the capacity of this event's venue. Upon closer analysis, this is indeed true. A typical wedding would have around three to four hundred guests, with significant variation, but certainly more than 140.

Some netizens also remarked that the attendance for a basketball game in their village would be higher than 140.

In summary, the scale of this Kickoff event arranged by Riot is surprisingly small to an extremely absurd degree. It's hard for viewers to imagine an international LoL tournament with only a little over a hundred live spectators, especially in Brazil, which has a relatively strong esports atmosphere. This really makes the Kickoff event seem like a minor, insignificant competition.

The reason behind this is likely Riot's act of "slacking off" for an international tournament. Firstly, there seems to be insufficient emphasis on the first split's international event. Normally, with more slots for the Kickoff event, its prestige should be enhanced. Yet, this year's venue is even smaller than last year's.

Another possible reason is that after the elimination of Faker's team, T1, Riot may be unwilling to invest more in the first split, hence choosing a smaller venue. From any perspective, Riot's handling of this event is disappointing.

The most dispensable tournament of the year, perhaps consideration should be given to its cancellation

In my opinion, the Kickoff event is the most dispensable tournament in LoL's annual calendar. Last year, Riot first introduced the global pick-ban (draft) mode for this event. Initially, everyone thought only the first split would use this mode, but its effectiveness led Riot to adopt it for the subsequent splits as well.

This diminished the uniqueness of the Kickoff event. Furthermore, this year's Kickoff event has increased the number of participating teams, making its format appear almost identical to the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI). It's essentially like having two MSI tournaments in one year, but the scale of the Kickoff event is significantly lower than MSI's. This solidifies its position as the most dispensable and least prestigious event of the year.

Riot's apparent lack of effort this year has turned the Kickoff event into a major joke.

I believe Riot should consider canceling this event next year. If they still want three international tournaments annually, they could design a new event with rules distinct from both MSI and the World Championship. Actually, the former Rift Rivals format was quite good, but its return is unlikely due to the high number of participating teams and the exponentially increased costs of inviting them, which Riot would probably not accept. Therefore, alternative solutions need to be explored.