It has been an exciting year for LoL Esports. We hosted our most-viewed Mid-Season Invitational in May, with the final match between DWG KIA and Royal Never Give Up (RNG) hitting a record-breaking MSI peak viewership of 23 million, and an average minute audience (AMA) of 10 million. And after a late location pivot to Iceland, we were able to deliver our most successful Worlds to date, setting new viewership records for esports that surpassed Worlds 2020’s numbers.
While we are pleased with the success of MSI and Worlds, after careful deliberation, we have made the difficult decision to forgo this year’s All-Star Event given COVID-19 travel constraints. This decision was not made lightly, as we know many fans and players around the world look forward to closing out the LoL Esports season at ASE.
To ensure the health and safety of everyone participating in our events this year, there were a variety of travel requirements placed on pros and staff, as well as strict protocols for anyone coming to one of our venues or broadcast studios, in addition to restrictions mandated by origin and destination locales. These safety and travel protocols make accommodating for a 3-day All-Star Event especially challenging. For example, pre- and post-event quarantine requirements for ASE would put participants in quarantine for longer than they would compete in the event. Additionally, given the post-Worlds quarantine requirements for many, there would be an unfairly short break for participants and staff attending both Worlds and ASE.
While we assessed switching to an online format like we did for ASE 2020, we do not feel that this format truly captures the spirit of ASE, which is to bring pros, influencers, and fans together to celebrate the LoL Esports season with cross-regional competition.
We want to sincerely thank all of our fans, players, and partners for supporting us this year. We also want to give a huge thanks to the pros players and their team organizations for their perseverance, having gone to great lengths to compete throughout the regular season, MSI, and Worlds despite the challenges presented by the pandemic. 2021 ended on a strong note with an unforgettable Worlds, and we look forward to kicking off the 2022 season in January!
