Riot Games event lead Nick Troop is busy working on offline events for VALORANT and League of Legends, including MSI. Nevertheless, Troop has taken some time out to speak with us at Daily Esports. Troop discussed the thought process behind the League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational and the VALORANT Masters, which are both set to take place in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Troop discussed the idea of both major events taking place together. The League of Legends Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) will take place from May 6 through May 23. The VALORANT Masters then takes place almost 24 hours later at the same venue, on May 24.
“Once we got the green light from Riot to pursue and organize an offline MSI, it was a really easy check-in with the VALORANT team to basically say is there a world where our calendars can align,” Troop said.
#MSI2021 is coming. Who will Break Out? Pack your parkas, because League of Legends’ greatest pro players are about to showdown in Iceland! This sprawling, epic landscape will set the stage for big moves & rising legends. Dates: May 6-22. pic.twitter.com/besQKwW3AW
— LoL Esports (@lolesports) March 1, 2021
Riot Games wants to have both titles work together when it comes to producing offline events in future. This MSI event takes the place of what couldn’t happen for League of Legends last year. However, VALORANT will be looking to host its first ever offline event, something Iceland will now lay claim to.
“They [Iceland] can lay claim to being the host of the first offline VALORANT event ever and they can demonstrate that they are a safe and mature production environment,” Troop said. “In Iceland and in the teams, both in the organizations that will end up qualifying and the internal Riot teams, we are confident that we can share real estate and resources but deliver two very different events in Iceland.”.
Will League of Legends and VALORANT tournaments coexist?
In the discussion, we touched on the idea of future VALORANT and League of Legends events happening together as well. We wanted to know if it was possible for VALORANT tournaments to take place where the League of Legends World Championship 2021 would too.
“What we want to do is get the competitive League season to that inflexion point of quality competitive play. We think that the best version of that is done offline. Similarly, the most competitive expression of VALORANT is done offline and so there was this perfect overlap to bring both events to Iceland.” Troop said.
Troop then went on to explain the delicate situation that COVID-19 brings to esports. All players, staff, and the production crew must be kept safe. With this in mind, Iceland was the best choice given the circumstances globally. While there is no telling what’s to come for both VALORANT and League of Legends events in the future, Troop spoke on the possibility. “I think it’s about what feels best given the opportunity space.” Troop said.
So, Reykjavík, Iceland will host the first offline event for both League of Legends and VALORANT in 2021. Troop’s words also point toward more joint offline events like these in the future.
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