Riot Games Sunsets LoL All-Star, Introduces Season Kickoff 2023 Event

The prospect of a new year’s start is always exciting and brings in an array of opportunities. The beginning of 2023 will also turn a new page in League of Legends and its esports ecosystem as the game steps into its 13th glorious season. Riot Games has already made things interesting by announcing a brand-new competitive event called Season Kickoff. Nine regional leagues will be celebrating the start of the new competitive year for both League of Legends ranked and League of Legends Esports (LoL Esports) during this two-day Season Kickoff 2023, stated Riot Games.

On 8th December, the publisher teased on Twitter, “With the start of a new year comes a blank canvas, a fresh start for us all, from the World Champions to those climbing ranked.”

With this announcement, Riot Games has officially sunsetted the League of Legends: All-Star event after almost eight years.

Season Kickoff 2023: All you need to know

For the first time, fans and players will come together to celebrate the start of the new League of Legends ranked and esports season together. On 10th and 11th January, nine regions from around the world will host a special broadcasted event titled the Season Kickoff. This event will preview the 2023 season and highlight pros alongside multiple storylines to watch out for this year while giving fans a glimpse at what’s in store for 2023 on Summoner’s Rift. 

The nine regions are as follows:

• China: League of Legends Pro League (LPL) 

• Korea: League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK)

• Europe, Middle East, and Africa [EMEA] - League of Legends EMEA Championship (LEC)

• North America: League of Legends Championship Series (LCS)

• Southeast Asia: Pacific Championship Series (PCS) 

• Vietnam: Vietnam Championship Series (VCS)

• Brazil: Campeonato Brasileiro de League of Legends (CBLOL)

• Japan: League of Legends Japan League (LJL)

• Latin America: The Liga Latinoamérica (LLA)

Simply put, the Season Kickoff event is replacing All-Star, an event that has provided players and fans with numerous special moments over the years and has conducted interesting in-game modes like the Tandem mode. Riot Games believes that the current calendar can be challenging for many All-Star players and that the Season Kickoff event will ultimately provide a much-deserved break for pro players and an exciting new platform for fans. This way fans get their share of end-of-year celebrations while pros also get to rest a bit.

LCK teases its Season Kickoff

Soon after the announcement from Riot Games, the LCK Twitter handle posted an announcement. During the Season Kickoff event in Korea, fans can witness classic 1v1 battles between pros and also witness a showmatch between two great players: Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok (T1) and Kim "Deft" Hyuk-kyu (Damwon Kia). Notably, the 1v1 battle and the team drafting will take place on 16th December whereas the actual showmatch will happen on 10th January 2023.

Not much information has been revealed by Riot Games or the respective leagues about the Season Kickoff. More details about the event format and schedule shall be released soon in the coming weeks.