Esports infrastructure company Nerd Street Gamers has teamed up with Riot Games and Wisdom Gaming to host North America’s first League of Legends: Wild Rift LAN Championship.
The Wild Rift Summoner Series LAN Championship, set to commence from October 8th – 11th, will take place at the Localhost gaming and esports centre in Denver.
Image credit: Nerd Street Gamers
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Alongside receiving a lion’s share of the event’s $70,000 prize pool, the winning team will secure a spot at the 2021 Wild Rift Horizon Cup in Singapore as North America’s representative.
According to the release, players have been offered to fly to Denver at Riot Games’s expense. However, participants who don’t wish to travel or who are not in compliance with COVID-19 restrictions will have the opportunity to play remotely.
It was also announced that the venue will be closed to the public, with COVID-19 restrictions being enforced throughout the event.
Steve Csikos, VP, Esports Operations and Strategy of Nerd Street Gamers, commented: “Nerd Street is making strides in the mobile gaming industry, with this being our biggest move hosting the first-ever North American in-person championship for Wild Rift.
“As there are numerous similarities in the core values of Nerd Street and Riot Games, their continual company-wide support has allowed us to make history, all while keeping the focus on increasing accessibility and opportunities to all players.”
Both Nerd Street Gamers and Wisdom Gaming have been responsible for leading registration, design, operations, and production of the series since July 2021. Wisdom Gaming will produce the Championship broadcast, which will take place on Riot Games’s Wild Rift Twitch channel.
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Chris Greeley, Head of Esports for North America at Riot Games, added: “We’re excited to bring together the best Wild Rift teams in North America, even if COVID-19 has kept us from producing the show at the scale we originally envisioned.
“Nerd Street and Wisdom have been great partners in bringing the Summoner Series to life, and we expect our championship weekend will deliver a great experience for pros and teams, and an exciting culmination to the season for fans.”
Esports Insider says: Given Riot Games’s growing relationship with Nerd Street Gamers, it makes sense for the pair to team up alongside Wisdom Gaming to host a LAN event. It’ll be interesting to see how the event is delivered and whether it will differentiate itself from EU’s Origin Series which took place in Stockholm.