League of Legends reveals World Championship 2025 venues and format

Jonno Nicholson
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Image of three Chinese event venues lit up with lights and the Worlds 25 logo in the foreground
Image credit: Riot Games

League of Legends has confirmed important details surrounding its 2025 World Championship in China.

Taking place from October 14th to November 9th, 2025, the event will take place in three venues across the country.

The Play-Ins and Swiss Stage of the tournament take place at the Beijing Smart Esports Center, marking the first time the venue has hosted a world championship event.

In addition to a new venue, Riot Games has revealed that the Play-Ins will host a best-of-five series involving the fourth-seeded teams from the two best Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) regions: LCK and LPL. The winner of the series will advance to the Swiss Stage.

The Knockout Stage of Worlds 2025 heads to Shanghai’s Mercedes-Benz Arena, where the remaining eight teams will compete in a single-elimination bracket for a chance to qualify for the Finals. Notably, the quarter-final and the semi-final won’t have a break in play.

Following the Knockout Stage, the Finals will take place at the Dong’an Lake Sports Park Multifunctional Gymnasium in Chengdu. The 18,000-seat venue will play host to the two remaining teams that will battle it out to become world champions.

Worlds is no stranger to China. In 2020, the majority of the event took place at the Shanghai Media Tech Studio due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while the final headed to the Pudong Football Stadium.

League of Legends In 2025

League of Legends continues to cement its position as one of the biggest esports titles in the world. MSI 2025 broke its all-time viewership record with the Grand Final between Gen.G and T1 peaking at 3.4m viewers.

Riot’s MOBA title remains an attractive prospect for esports organisations looking to expand. In June, Sentinels revealed it is considering an expansion into League of Legends thanks to the Guest Slot available in the League of Legends Championship of the Americas (LTA).

Jonno Nicholson

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Jonno is a writer for Esports Insider and has been part of the team since 2019. Over the past ten years, he's written for several outlets including Gfinity, GGRecon, and Radio Times. As an avid sim racer, he aims to provide insight on one of the fastest growing sectors in esports.
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