League of Legends Worlds 2025: Riot finally reveals schedule, format and venues

Riot Games has officially announced the full schedule and host cities for the League of Legends World Championship 2025 (or Worlds 2025). The tournament will be held from October 14 to November 9 in three Chinese cities: Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu. This is the first time Worlds has returned to China since 2020, and this year’s edition promises to offer action-packed matches, spectacular venues and an all-new competitive structure that fans won’t want to miss.

Beijing kicks off the journey
Worlds 2025 will begin in Beijing Smart Esports Centera massive 68,000-square-meter venue designed specifically for esports events. The competition will kick off on October 14 with a best-of-five Play-In between the fourth-ranked teams from the LCK and LPL regions, based on their results at MSI 2025. The winner will advance to the main event: a 16-team Swiss phase, to be played from October 15-25.

In this Swiss phase, teams will compete over five rounds. Three wins are needed to advance, but once three losses are accumulated, the team is eliminated. At the end of this stage, only eight teams will move on to the knockout rounds.

Shanghai hosts the playoffs
Afterwards, the event will move to Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai, a world-class venue that has already hosted LPL finals and the VALORANT Masters. From October 28 to November 2, the eight surviving teams will play a best-of-five series in a single-elimination format. There will be no breaks between days, making the matches even more intense. Only two teams will make it to the grand final.

Grand final in Chengdu
The grand finale will be held on November 9 at the Dong’an Lake Sports Park Gymnasium in Chengdu. This 18,000-capacity arena has already hosted events such as the Peacekeeper Elite and the anniversary of Honor of Kings. Chengdu, which also hosted the MSI in 2024, will be the stage where the next League of Legends world champion will be crowned in a spectacular finale.

Format, teams and news

Fewer teams this year
Worlds 2025 will feature only 17 teams, down from 20 last year.

Distribution of slots by region
The five main regions-LCK, LPL, LEC, Americas and Asia-Pacific-will each send three teams. One extra place will go to the region with the best MSI performance, slightly reducing the total number of teams.

New competitive calendar
Riot has introduced a new three-stage competitive structure for the 2025 season:

• First Stand (March, in Seoul)
• MSI (June-July, in Vancouver)
• Regional Championships before Worlds in the fall

Gen.G leads the way
Gen.G, from Korea, has already become the first team to qualify for Worlds 2025. Their strong performance at both MSI and Esports World Cup, along with their solid showing at the LCK Summer Split, has made them the first team in history to qualify so early for Worlds.