League of Legends developer Riot Games has announced a selection of special in-game and cosmetic items for the upcoming Mid-Season Invitational tournament (MSI).
25% of all proceeds from the Inkshadow Event Pass and Inkshadow Yasuo in-game skin will go towards increasing the event prize pool. Moreover, 50% of proceeds from the MSI 2023 Esports Premium Bundle will also be used to increase the MSI 2023 prize pool.
The Mid-Season Invitational is, as its name suggests, a League of Legends tournament taking place between the two seasonal splits. The best teams from each competitive region will gather in London, England this May, making it the first time MSI is held in the country.
The bundles and other digital items are a welcome addition to the MSI prize pool. The tournament features an initial prize pool of $250,000 (~£200,000). The winners are to take home at least $50,000 (~£40,000), or 20% of the total amount of money. This is a common practice for the MSI since 2019.
The two ways fans can support their favourite teams will be further explained on April 27th. So far, it is known that there will be a smaller bundle, including the Event pass and an Inkshadow skin for League of Legends champion Yasuo. The larger bundle, called the MSI 2023 Esports Premium Bundle, will also include a chroma version of the Yasuo skin and an emote.
On Reddit, some League of Legends fans expressed their dissatisfaction with the bundles, noting that the upcoming bundle is very similar to last year’s collection with just an in-game emote added.
Although MSI featured a prize pool that grows depending on the community since 2019, Riot Games did recently note that it plans to explore more ways for teams to make money. This includes a Virtual Pass for Worlds 2023, which will include team-specific physical and digital items.
