24 qualified teams will have to play from a centralized location during the event if this format is applied for the 2020 World Championship.
According to a recently report from ESPN, Riot Games is considering a “single-city, bubble hub” format for holding this season World Championship.
This report took place right after China offically canceled all international sports events until the end of 2020. Currently, Riot Games has not yet made any announcement about their plan for the biggest event of League of Legends. But, to consider the international nature of the tournament, even that League of Legends World Championship and many other esport events do not fall under the “sporting” classification, there are still chances that the event could be postponed.
In case of cancellation, a bubble system could serve as an alternative approach to hold the Championship. In that case, we would see all 24 qualified teams arrive in Shanghai before the start of the tournament. They would be quarantine in the same hotel, where contact with outsiders will obviously, be limited, and throughout the event, our players will have to compete in a centralized location, instead.
The 2020 League of Legends World Championship was planned to take place in six different cities across China, the event was originally scheduled for the fall and would also mark this international event 10th year anniversary.
Additionally, the report has also informed that Worlds 2021, which was planned to take place in North America, will instead, be hosted by China, no matter if this year’s Championship will be held using the “bubble system” or if there will be any changes. North America will then, earn the right to host Worlds 2022.
With the global strike of COVID-19 earlier this year, Riot Games had to canceled their annual Mid-Season Invitational, while major regions moved their games to an online format, where the players had competed for their Spring Season regional titles with highest safety conditions.