Riot Games have announced that the 2014 World Final of their insanely popular MOBA League of Legends will be held in South Korea’s Sangam Stadium Seoul; the stadium that played host to the opening game of the 2002 FIFA World Cup no less. Teams from all over the world will be battling it out for a cool $1 million prize fund and you can catch it all on Twitch on October 19th.
The official PR blurb goes on to give some more background on the qualifiers and you can read it all right here:
Of course, no end goal is complete without the journey. This year, we’re taking Worlds on the road and hosting group stages in Taipei and Singapore in September. The action will then move on to a quarter final showdown in Busan, Korea in October before the victorious teams emerge to battle it out in Seoul (home of defending champions SKT T1 K) in the semifinals and final. We’re looking forward to making our first stop in some of these regions and bringing the most talented League of Legends competitors in the world directly to local fans.
Fueling the epic journey through Taiwan, Singapore and Korea will be our brand new event format that now includes a sixteen team group stage arranged from our global leagues. Three top teams from NA, EU, Korea, and China will join two teams from Taiwan and SEA and two wild card winners to fight on the global battlefield. The teams will be placed into four groups and battle it out in the group stages before the top two teams from each group move on to the quarter-finals.
We’re also increasing the number of wild card teams that participate from all around the world. Latin America will face off against Brazil at the NA LCS Regional Final, while Oceania, CIS and Turkey will battle it out on the ground at EU LCS Regional Final for the last spot. We’re opening the door for more teams and more world-class talent from around the globe – all hungry for the chance to lift the Summoner’s Cup.
The 2013 final was watched by 32 million people which is more than double that watched the NBA finals this year. If you want to get a taste of what is to come you can take a look at the 2013 final right here:
