League of Legends is adapting Game Changers from VALORANT, bringing the women-only tournament with LGC Rising.
Riot Games is adapting VALORANT's Game Changers brand onto League of Legends with Game Changers Rising. This will bring the women's tournament to the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region (EMEA).
Related articles
League of Legends Game Changers
League of Legends Game Changers (LGC) will only be introduced in the EMEA region. For VALORANT, however, it has leagues all around the globe. The first tournament under this banner will be LGC Rising and is Riot's "first step in building a meaningful competitive ecosystem for women in the region."
LGC's debut in EMEA is due to its strong foundation and, of course, the success of VALORANT GC. For example, G2 Esports' female team G2 Hel recently qualified for the playoffs of Liga Nexo, the second-biggest Spanish League next to the SuperLiga.
"We can't wait to put our unique spin on what [VALORANT Game Changers] created," said Riot.
Prior to LGC, there were local initiatives that gave women a competitive League of Legends stage. This includes the Equal Esports Cup and the Coupe des Étoiles in France. Riot emphasized that LGC is not meant to replace any of these initiatives and called these events a "vital part of our shared journey and evolving history."
LGC Rising will be open to all individuals who identify as women. The article posted by Riot Games also revealed that organizations in the League of Legends EMEA Championship, or LEC, will also support this scene. While no exact teams were named (aside from G2 Hel), Riot mentioned that there are already three active teams that fall in this category. This is most likely SK Gaming Avarosa and Vitality Rising Bees. These three teams will receive direct invites, joined by the three finalists from the Equal Esports Cup.
LGC Rising will begin with an open qualifier sometime in August to complete the tournament's compact eight-team structure. Then, it will proceed to a best-of-one, single-round robin, where the top three teams from both groups advance. Playoffs feature a double-elimination best-of-five series, and the champion will be crowned on October 30 with a live stage event at the Paris Games week.
For more League of Legends news, stick around esports.gg.
