After the sweeping changes to our EMEA ecosystem at the start of the 2023 Season, we’re not planning on any major changes to our competition in 2024. However, there are some minor changes we’re making going into next year to enhance our competition further, based on learnings from the past 12 months and feedback from our fans, teams and players.
Before we get into all the changes, you may have spotted that we will be broadcasting from our new home of esports in EMEA - the Riot Games Arena (previously LEC Studio) in Berlin - in 2024! You can read more about that [here][1].
We don’t have long until the action begins, with the LEC set to return on Saturday, January 13, so let’s dive into the LEC changes for next year…
**Group Stage and Playoffs**
One of the most significant changes to the format next year will see us merge the Group Stage and Playoffs for each split into a single bracket. Our goal for this adjustment is to make it easier to understand and follow the competition as it progresses. These brackets will have the same number of best-of-3 and best-of-5 series’ as before, with added repeat matchup protection for the Lower Bracket. This means that teams that have played against each other in the Upper Round 1, will not match against each other again in the Lower Round 2.
[1]: https://esports.riotgamesmedia.com/Riot-Games-reveals-plans-for-new-home-of-EMEA-esports-in-Berlin
**Scheduling updates**
We’re making some changes to our scheduling for 2024! To better support the well-being of our teams and players, we’re extending the break between Winter and Spring Split, as well as the break between Spring Split and MSI, by one week each. On top of that, to keep the overall season schedule balanced, we’re reducing the break between the Summer Split and the LEC Season Finals by one week.
We're also adjusting the start time with the first game starting at 5:00 PM CET each show day. Make sure to stay tuned for more specific details and dates in the future about the 2024 LEC schedule!
**Championship Points and tiebreakers**
Championship Points (CP) will also be changing in 2024. While we’re satisfied with how they function to balance the value of each split throughout the year, we want to further optimise their importance across all 3 splits.
We’ll now allocate the same amount of points to our fifth and sixth, and seventh and eighth-place finishers for each split, while also raising the stakes and points on offer for each split.
The new championship point distribution will be as follows:
**Season Finals Qualification**
We’re putting more emphasis on Summer Split performance this year, with our Summer Champion automatically qualifying for Worlds as the lowest seed. Our Summer 2nd and 3rd placed teams will also qualify for the LEC Season Finals regardless of their CP, or past results.
Furthermore, if two teams end the year with the same amount of Championship Points heading into qualification for the LEC Season Finals, the team with the higher number of Championship Points earned in Summer will qualify. If they had the same amount of Championship Points in Summer, their Summer Split Regular Season head-to-head record will decide who qualifies.
**Pre-Season Champions’ Queue**
With the first patch of the season landing on January 9, only four days before the start of the LEC Winter Split, we wanted to ensure our LEC and ERL players could better prepare for competitive games on the new patch.
With that in mind, we are opening up a Pre-Season Champions Queue on a special tournament server that mirrors the Public Beta Environment (PBE) on December 11 to give players the chance to practice the new patch in a controlled solo queue environment.
The server will be open to LEC and first-division ERL players that are in the Global Contract Database (GCD) or ERL Player Database (EPD) to provide them with the best possible start to the season and reduce the pressure of learning the competitive meta in a short amount of time.
**LEC Player Age Limit changes**
Lastly, we will be raising the minimum age for players competing in the LEC from 17 to 18. After carefully evaluating the needs of our partnered teams, as well as assessing our recent player age history, we are increasing our age limit to enable teams and the LEC to explore additional revenue opportunities which we hope will help with sustainability, particularly in the current economic environment.
However, our ERL ecosystem still provides a pathway for up-and-coming EMEA talent – and so, with that in mind, the age restriction for competing in an ERL will remain at 16 years of age.
That’s all from us for now on the LEC – we’re hyped to welcome you back for the beginning of the 2024 LEC Winter Split. Keep your eyes peeled on [lolesports.com][1] and our [social media][2] for more announcements as we head into 2024.
[1]: https://lolesports.com/
[2]: https://linktr.ee/LECofficial
