As a result, several teams were forced to rebrand and leave their respective parent organizations. Ī new sale of sponsorship rule was instated for the 2015 season. Additionally, Riot introduced the concept of "Championship points", which teams would earn based on performance across both splits and playoffs in order to qualify for the World Championship. Īt the end of the 2014 season, an expansion tournament was held in both Europe and North America that added two teams in region, giving the LCS a total of 10 teams per region for the start of the 2015 Season.
This year League of Legends Challenger Series was also created as a second tier of competition for promotion and relegation. Riot Games changed naming conventions in 2014, calling the season the "2014 Season" instead of "Season 4". The top three teams from each continent advanced to the Season 3 World Championships. In North America, the top three finishers were Cloud9, Team SoloMid, and Team Vulcun. In Europe, the Fnatic finished first, Lemondogs second, and Gambit Gaming third. Season 3 of the LCS finished with the summer split playoffs, held on August 23 to 25 in Europe at the Gamescom in 2013, which was held in the Koelnmesse in Cologne, North Rine-Westphalia, Germany, and August 30 to September 1, 2013, at PAX Prime 2013 in Seattle, Washington in North America. However, another mainstay, Cloud9 joined in the following Summer split.
As of 2020 Counter Logic Gaming, Team SoloMid, and Team Liquid (originally founded as Team Curse) are the sole remaining teams from the first split of the NA LCS, having never been relegated. Each LCS season is divided into two splits for spring and summer the first games of the first spring split took place on February 7, 2013, in North America and on February 9, 2013, in Europe. The top three finishers in both the Riot Games European and North American regional championships held in August 2012 automatically qualified, with the remaining five teams being decided in qualifier tournaments held in January 2013.
Since the LCS was only launched in the third year of professional play, it was immediately dubbed "Season 3". Riot Games announced the formation of the LCS on August 6, 2012, creating a fully professional league run by the company with a regular schedule and guaranteed salaries for players, featuring eight teams in both North America and Europe. The first two seasons of competitive play consisted of a series of tournaments mostly organised by third parties, such as Intel Extreme Masters in Europe and Major League Gaming in North America, capped by a world championship tournament hosted by Riot Games. Riot Games launched League of Legends in October 2009 and rapidly attracted attention from the competitive gaming community. "League of Legends Championship Series" is a Delaware limited liability company. The LCS has attracted sponsorships from Acer, Coca-Cola, and American Express. The first LCS player to be awarded a P visa was Danny "Shiphtur" Le. government grants athlete visas for foreign LCS competitors.
In addition to a small studio audience, all games are streamed live in several languages on Twitch and YouTube, with broadcasts regularly attracting over 300,000 viewers. With the exception of some touring events, all games of the LCS are played live at Riot Games' studios in Los Angeles, California. At the end of the season, the winner, runners-up and third-place team of the summer playoffs qualify for the annual League of Legends World Championship. Each annual season of competition is divided into two splits, spring and summer, which conclude with a double-elimination tournament between the top eight teams. The esports league is run by Riot Games and has ten franchise teams. The League Championship Series ( LCS) is the top level of professional League of Legends in the United States and Canada.