After seeing the immense success from crowdfunded prize pools such as Valve’s The International for Dota 2 and Smite’s World Championships, fans of League of Legends have been clamoring for this level of financial support from Riot. The developers have recently released a statement saying that starting from the League of Legends World Championships at the end of this month, fans will now be able to support the competitive scene through a crowdfunded prize pool.
Much like other crowdfunded prize pools, League fans will be able to purchase special skins for characters and wards. 25% of the revenue obtained from purchasing these special ‘Championship skins’ and ‘Championship wards’ will go directly to the prize pool total. For the Mid Season Invitational prize pools next year, 25% of the revenue from purchasing the ‘Challenger skins’ will contribute to the prize pool.
Additionally, 25% of revenue from Championship skins will also go to the team in which they are based on. This means that fans can now support not just the major tournaments, but their favorite teams as well. This helps incentivise professional teams to keep up their standards and do well. For teams that do not do particularly well, Riot has promised to help improve team branding so that loyal followers can support their team. One of the biggest ways is Riot’s plan to put aside a certain amount of money for each organization.
It’s interesting to see crowdfunding being the future for eSport prize pool growth. With League of Legends having an incredibly high amount of players, the upcoming World Championships could potentially topple Dota 2’s TI6’s prize pool earlier this year.