Riot Games has unveiled the Pacific Championship Series (PCS), a regional league for Southeast Asia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
The PCS is the result of a merger between League of Legends Master Series (LMS) and League of Legends Southeast Asia Tour (LST) which was first announced in September.
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Riot Games and FunPlus Esports will organise and operate the league alongside Garena, the official publisher of League of Legends in the region.
To ensure sustainability of the PCS, Riot Games conducted a “multi-month team vetting process” as per its global league operations policies. It has partnered with organisations from the LMS, as well as organisations from Southeast Asia, to secure the starting roster of teams that will compete in the league. Among other factors, the invited teams were chosen based on having responsible financial situations.
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ahq eSports Club, Alpha Esports, J Team, G-Rex Gaming, Hong Kong Attitude, Resurgence, Liyab Esports, Nova Esports, and Talon make up nine of the 10 inaugural PCS teams. The league is set to kick off on February 8th.
Due to the variety of locations that the teams are situated, PCS will be taking place online at launch. Broadcasts of the new league will be available in English, Mandarin, and Thai, though the broadcasting platforms haven’t been disclosed at the time of writing.
Esports Insider says: This new league will likely be successful in its objective of increasing the level of competition in the regions. Based on recent announcements, it’s clear that Riot Games is continuing to build a strong regional infrastructure and it doesn’t appear to be done quite yet.