UK Esports League teams up with Riot Games for new League of Legends tournament

30 August 2023

Excellent news for the fans of League of Legends in the UK and Ireland, and for fans of esports in the UK in general. The UK Esports League (UKEL) has announced that it will be re-launching its popular 4 Nations League of Legends tournament for players in the United Kingdom and Ireland, in collaboration with Riot Games. In order to make this possible, the UKEL has reprised its role as official Competitive Experience Partner of the League of Legends developer. The last time this tournament was organised was almost ten years ago, so players and fans are understandably looking forward to what UKEL and Riot will come up with next month.

What will the 4 Nations tournament look like?

Perhaps the best part of the announcement by the UKEL is that the next edition of the 4 Nations tournament is planned to kick off on Monday, September 18th, and set to continue into a play-off series. These play-offs will take place in the period from Monday, November 6th, to Sunday, November 19th. What makes the upcoming event extra interesting is the fact that the UKEL are launching it without any backing from external investors, which is rare for major esports tournaments in the UK.

While not a lot has been revealed yet about exact format of the 4 Nations tournament, four slots from Division One are expected to be allocated through an application process. The other four spots will be filled through qualifiers. Players must be at least 16 years old and each participating will need to feature at least three residents from the UK and Ireland in their respective starting line-up for every match. Teams will participate in a double round-robin format, playing best-of-one matches two times per week. For the play-offs, the format will change to double elimination best-of-three and best-of-five matches.

4 Nations future

Earlier, we briefly mentioned how the UKEL is organising the first edition of the 4 Nations event in almost ten years without any external backing. The goal from an organisational point of view is to first revive the formerly popular format and to then work on attracting complementary sponsors.

“To create a successful long-term ecosystem we need to build a community that feels engaged and passionate about all aspects of the ecosystem”, explains Marc Busby, Founder and Managing Director at the UKEL, “For those who remember our last split, you can expect us to pick up where we left off in terms of both the quality broadcast and general operations. We are committed to improving our product and will be putting increased effort into creating content, with a focus on building engaging and relatable storylines, working to empower teams and players through fandom. Our goal is to build a community of fans who are engaged with not just the UKEL, but also the teams, players and talent by showcasing their wins, struggles and development in a relatable manner”.