The League of Legends World Championship, often called Worlds, is an annual tournament held by Riot Games. It marks the end of each season, with teams competing for the champion title, a 22-pound (10-kilogram) trophy called the Summoner's Cup, and a prize worth millions of dollars. In 2018, the final match was viewed by 99.6 million people, surpassing the 2017 final's record. The tournament is known for its special performances and has drawn global attention because of its emotional and exciting moments.

The League of Legends World Championships has achieved great success and is now one of the most popular and respected tournaments worldwide. It is also the most watched esports event globally. The tournament moves its location to different major countries each year, with the next event planned for the United States. South Korea's T1 is the team with the most World Championship wins, having claimed the title six times.

History

The Season 1 Championship took place in June 2011 at Dreamhack Summer 2011. The event had a prize pool of US$100,000. Eight teams from Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia participated. Over 1.6 million people watched the event online, with more than 210,069 viewers watching at the same time during the final match. Maciej "Shushei" Ratuszniak, who played for the winning team Fnatic, was named the most valuable player (MVP) of the tournament.

After Season 1, Riot Games announced that US$5,000,000 would be distributed during Season 2. Of this money, US$2,000,000 went to Riot’s partners, such as the IGN Pro League and other esports groups. Another US$2,000,000 was used for Season 2 qualifiers and the championship. The final US$1,000,000 was given to other organizers who wanted to host their own League of Legends tournaments.

The Season 2 World Championship happened in early October 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Twelve teams from around the world competed. The event had the largest prize pool in esports history at the time, with US$2,000,000. The champions received US$1,000,000. The group stage, quarterfinals, and semifinals were held from October 4 to 6. The grand final took place on October 13 at the University of Southern California’s Galen Center, where 10,000 fans attended. The final was broadcast in 13 languages. In the grand final, Taiwan’s Taipei Assassins defeated South Korea’s Azubu Frost 3-1 and won the US$1,000,000 prize.

More than 8 million people watched the Season 2 World Championship broadcast. At the peak of the grand final, over 1.1 million people watched at the same time. This made the Season 2 World Championship the most-watched esports event in history at that time.

The Season 3 World Championship took place in late 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Fourteen teams from North America, Korea, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and one new region qualified through regional competitions. The grand final was held at the Staples Center on October 4, 2013. The Korean team SK Telecom T1 defeated the Chinese team Royal Club, becoming the Season 3 world champions and winning the Summoner’s Cup and US$1,000,000 prize.

The Season 3 World Championship grand final was watched by 32 million people. At the peak, 8.5 million people watched at the same time. These numbers broke previous esports viewership records.

The 2014 World Championship had 16 teams competing for a prize pool of US$2,130,000. Fourteen teams qualified from major regions (China, Europe, North America, Korea, and Taiwan/SEA), and two teams were selected as wildcards. Riot Games stopped using season numbers and instead labeled future events by year.

The group stage started on September 18 in Taipei and ended on September 28 in Singapore. Eight teams advanced to the bracket stage. The bracket stage began on October 3 in Busan, South Korea, and ended on October 19. The grand final was held at the 45,000-seat Seoul World Cup Stadium, where the South Korean team Samsung Galaxy White defeated the Chinese team Star Horn Royal Club to become the 2014 champions. Support player Cho "Mata" Se-hyeong was named the tournament’s MVP.

The American band Imagine Dragons created the theme song "Warriors" for the tournament. The band performed live during the grand final in South Korea. All games were streamed for free online.

The 2014 World Championship was broadcast by 40 partners and cast in 19 languages. The grand final was watched by 27 million people, with a peak of over 11 million viewers watching at the same time.

After the 2014 season, Riot Games made several changes to competitive League of Legends. The number of teams in the League Championship Series increased from 8 to 10 in North America and Europe. A new international tournament, the Mid-Season Invitational, was introduced. It took place in May 2015 and included one team from each major region and one wildcard team. Starting in 2015, all teams were required to have a head coach who would stay on stage and communicate with the team during the pick–ban phase of the game. This made the head coach an official team member.

The 2015 World Championship was held in multiple cities across Europe in October 2015. Like the 2014 event, it was a multi-city, multi-country tournament. SK Telecom T1 won the 2015 championship, their second title after winning in 2013. SKT’s top laner, Jang "MaRin" Gyeong-hwan, was named the tournament’s MVP. The final was watched by 36 million people, with a peak of 14 million viewers watching at the same time.

The 2016 World Championship took place in several cities in the United States, including Chicago, San Francisco, New York City, and Los Angeles. A live group draw show on September 10 decided the teams’ groups. The games were played on the 6.18 patch of the game, with Yorick and Aurelion Sol disabled for the first three days. Sixteen teams were divided into four groups of four teams each. The group stage was best-of-1 (Bo1), and the top two teams from each group advanced to the Knockout Stage. The Knockout Stage was best-of-5 (Bo5), with the top teams from each group competing in a bracket. The total prize pool was US$5,070,000. The first-place team, SK Telecom T1, received US$2,028,000. The second-place team, Samsung Galaxy, received US$760,500. The third and fourth-place teams, ROX Tigers and H2K, each received US$380,250. The remaining prize money was divided among the teams ranked 5th through 16th.

SK Telecom T1 defeated Samsung Galaxy 3-2 in the 2016 World Championship final

Trophy

Riot Games, the company that owns League of Legends, asked for the creation of the Summoner's Cup, which is the trophy given to the winner of the World Championship. Riot said the trophy should weigh 70 pounds (about 32 kilograms), but the final version was made lighter so it would be easier to lift. The World Championship Cups from 2012 and 2014 were designed by Thomas Lyte.

In 2022, Riot Games announced a long-term partnership with the American jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. to create a new version of the Summoner's Cup. This version weighed 44 pounds (about 20 kilograms). In 2025, the trophy was redesigned again to look more like the original version. Its weight was cut in half to 22 pounds (about 10 kilograms) to make it easier for the winning team to lift.

Results

When a team or organization is broken up, taken over, or no longer takes part in the regional league, it is shown in italics.

Hosts

The League of Legends World Championship is held in different regions each year, but China (LPL) and South Korea (LCK) are the only regions that do not change. Thirteen countries have hosted the tournament since 2011, with the United States hosting it the most, five times, including the upcoming event in 2026.

Italics indicates an upcoming World Championship.