Publisher Riot Games has announced that the LCK will merge with Riot Games Korea Ltd. and while also sharing how this move is likely to change and affect the future of the domestic competition.
League of Legends Champions Korea, better known as the LCK, was originally known as the South Korean League of Legends league. It was turned into the LCK in 2015, and while Riot Games Korea operated it, the league functioned separately from the developer for purposes of transparency. This is now set to change as the developer has announced that Riot Games Korea will fully absorb the league, leaving fans wondering what might come next.
The LCK is scheduled to be merged fully with Riot Games Korea Ltd. beginning on October 30, 2025.
The LCK is the official professional League of Legends competition in South Korea and has been operating under Riot Games Korea since its inception as an independent entity. This merger will change that, and Riot hopes that the change will enhance the sustainability of the LCK. Riot has said that the main reason for the merger is to “integrate the game and the league into one.” The developer and publisher believes this will help with the LCK’s growth and expansion into the future.
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Riot wants to change fan experiences by better combining both the game and the domestic competition, though details remain low on how exactly that will play out in practice. Riot also claims that the merger will provide a more stable revenue source for teams. The developer gave an example in the form of its Global Revenue Pool that can be applied to the LCK to increase team revenue distributions.
The League of Legends community abroad and domestically is divided by this news, as there is natural skepticism as to Riot Games’ intentions. But Riot claims that it hopes to make the future of the League of Legends Champions Korea better and more reliable through this merger.
Riot promises that the format of the LCK will remain untouched, and the developer has stated that it intends to foster growth and sustainability for LoL in Korea.
The developer wants to strengthen the structure of the LCK, but has stated that fans won’t notice much change as things will outwardly remain the same. Everything from the league’s name to the rules will remain the same as before, and fans’ experience should remain unaffected.
This hasn’t stopped the community from criticizing this merger, and some claim Riot will ruin the LCK by absorbing the individual entity. Despite Riot’s claims of keeping things the same, fans remain skeptical about what the future of the LCK will be, pointing to the failed merger of the LCS and CBLoL under Riot’s stewardship as an example of why the publisher can’t be trusted to properly run its own esports competitions.
Feature image credit: LCK
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