Riot Games and Webedia have announced the eight teams that will compete in inaugural season of the League of Legends French League (LFL).
The French teams will compete every Tuesday and Wednesday, starting from January 22nd. Co-produced by the two aforementioned parties, the action will be broadcast live on O’Gaming and ES1.
The best teams in the competition will qualify for the European Masters, which effectively acts as a platform for European teams – outside of the LEC – to demonstrate their skill. The eight teams that will compete in the LFL are as follows:
- GamersOrigin
- Solary
- Team Vitality
- MCES
- Team LDLC
- Misfits Gaming
- ROG Esport
- against All authority (aAa)
Just like other competitions ran by Riot Games, the LFL season will be divided into a Spring and Summer Split. Once the inaugural season is done and dusted, the amount of teams will rise from eight to 10 as a promotion and relegation system is implemented.
News of a French competition for League of Legends was first announced last November, with its inception coming from the desire to cultivate a competitive culture in the European country. The LFL is aiming to be an improvement upon the Open Tour competition that took place in 2018 and will be online-only.
Riot Games’ premier European competition, the LEC, kicked off its inaugural split last week. 2019 marks the change of the competition formerly known as the EU LCS, implementing franchising with 10 teams becoming long-term partners of the league.
Esports Insider says: It’s great to see some solid support being provided by Riot Games for amateur players in the French scene. Providing a platform to improve and potentially even reach the European Masters is commendable, and we sincerely hope other countries receive this level of support in the near future too.