Misfits Academy won the first ever Forge of Champions tournament on Thursday night, bringing an end to several months of planning and esports action. Organisers Riot Games and LVP say the event is just the start of big plans for the UK League of Legends scene.
"Overall it's been a crazy six months so far," said Mo Fadl, Head of Esports at Riot Games UK, reflecting on the time since the announcement earlier this year. "Yesterday I saw on our Twitch channel, which started with nothing, that we have 1.1 million views. And this is just for a ramping up, transitional event."
"The numbers can always be better, but we didn't expect these numbers," Fadl said. "When we first made the forecast for Forge of Champions we said maybe we'll have a 45% increase in viewership from the previous league, but now we've got nearly 10 times the viewership."
Fadl added that the response was humbling for organisers. "It's humbling but at the same time we know there's so much we can do now with the teams, players, and audience, who are pushing us," he said.
Audience Engagement and Open Brackets
Maja Milutinovic, UK Country Manager for LVP, has only been in her role for a couple of weeks but already has big plans. "Our main objective is to create a platform for players to express their full potential," she said. "We will also look for new ways to engage our audience and viewers. We want everyone to feel part of it. We'll focus more on content and fan engagement to create an online fan base."
The tournament allowed anyone to sign up through open brackets. Fadl initially expected around 10 teams brave enough to challenge the automatically qualified ESL Premiership teams, but over 3,000 players ultimately registered.
"A lot of solo players without a team came too, which we didn't think of," Fadl said. "Then we had to create this team building tool out of nowhere. We now see there's a massive audience out there who don't only want to watch, but play maybe. If you want to be part of it, there's a place for you."
London Broadcast Studio and Future Plans
The organizers are planning to open a broadcast studio in London for future games. "We're aiming for the best in London," Milutinovic said. "We don't have a definite choice of location right now, but our objective is to find a studio and start broadcasting our shows. Then we'll see how to expand. Little by little, but in the near future we do plan to include an audience."
"Esports is changing," Fadl said. "We have to adapt with viewer habits and market habits. Having a studio where people come and sit down is a nice experience, but it should be way more."
"There are existing places like Insomnia and esports bars that are part of the UK scene that I believe we should help be part of this to help it grow, to be relevant," Fadl said. "Instead of saying 'this is how we are, and you come to us,' we have to evolve. It's a unique opportunity in the UK to create something completely new for the high level esports scene."