Friday night shortly after the League Championship Series concluded its matches, Riot Games officially announced they'd be holding the 2020 World Championship entirely within Shanghai. In response to COVID-19, the entirety of League esports has been impacted, but Global Head of Esports, John Needham, states that, "all possible measures are taken to preserve the well being of everyone involved with the event." 

Riot Games CEO, Nicolo Laurent, further explains that Riot has "partnerned with local and national authorities, and external risk and safety consultants." Additionally, to reduce travel and to retain better control over the Worlds environment, they decided to hold the entire even within Shanghai, rather than take the event across the country as had been originally planned. However, Riot intends to keep their promise of showcasing the rich esports culture in China, holding Worlds 2021 across the country, following a similar path to their original plan for this year, and pushing the return to NA to 2022. 

The event will begin on September 25th, culminating on Halloween, and Riot will be bringing it all to the fans digitally. Riot has not yet announced the format, how they will specifically function (in order to keep teams safe), what measures will be put into place, or any other way the tournament may be affected, nor whether or not Worlds 2020 will have all regions represented. But despite the remaining questions, get ready, because in less than two months, the World Championship begins. 

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