For a few years, women have had a dedicated and inclusive space to compete in competitive Valorant all as part of the Game Changers division of the Valorant Champions Tour. This initiative has steadily grown and become more and more popular, which is why it's almost surprising that it has taken Riot Games so long to offer up a League of Legends alternative.
But now this is finally set to arrive as the League of Legends Game Changers (LGC) has been announced with plans for the first step to be the LGC Rising tournament in August, which will see the best teams competing online and then in-person at a live grand final featured at the Paris Games Week in October.
Riot notes that while LGC will be the premier women's LoL tournament, at least in the EMEA region, it does intend to work with third-party events and the community to "watch it grow organically, and, most importantly, enjoy the journey with you all."
As per LGC Rising, it will be a compact event due to it also being the inaugural tournament, and this means that we should only expect a handful of teams to be selected and invited. In fact, three "particularly those affiliated with LEC organisations" will be invited, three more earning spots depending on performance at the Equal Esports Cup in Germany, and then the other two squads will be selected by an open qualifier in August. The attending teams will then be split into two groups where the bottom two teams from each group are knocked out during the group stage, with the remaining six squads moving ahead to the playoffs. The schedule is as follows:
- Open Qualifier: August (Date TBC)
- Group Stage: September 13-14, 20-21, 27-29
- Playoffs: October 10-12 and 14-15
- Grand Final: October 30, live on stage at Paris Games Week
As for who can compete in LGC Rising, Riot explains it's "open to all individuals who identify as women".
