Riot Games shakes up TFT esports with open bracket LAN event
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Riot Games is branching out into new types of esports events, starting with Teamfight Tactics. This December, 512 players from around the world will gather in Las Vegas to compete in a massive open bracket tournament.
Riot has not shared how competitor passes will be obtained just yet, but some priority will be given to players based on their Set 9 ladder rankings. Players from all over the world will be able to compete, though they are not locking a specific regional breakdown.
This move is highly experimental for Riot. The publisher has not hosted open bracket esports tournament in over a decade, and certainly nothing at this scale. Moreover, this is the first time Riot has hosted a massive in-person event for TFT which debuted in late 2019.
Unlike Valorant, which had years of development and planning for its esports strategy, TFT was a relatively quick turnaround. Naturally, Riot borrowed its successful League of Legends esports model for TFT. Since 2020, Riot has crowned six global championships with its most recent ending this past weekend. 32 players from 9 regions competed for a share of $450,000 in prize money.
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The tournament capped off its eighth set: Monsters Attack! Each set changes TFT’s units, theme, mechanics and meta game so Championships commemorate a set.
However, Riot is looking to shake up its existing esports program for its auto battler. With over 80 million MAUs, TFT is Riot’s second most played
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