A week after announcing its plans with Yahoo eSports to create a University League of Legends Rivalry Series, Riot Games continues to double down on its efforts to grow the game as a whole.
Riot Games and the Collegiate StarLeague featured 32 League of Legends teams across North America in its 2016 ULoL Campus Series. The 2017 tournament, which will begin Jan. 14, will now be open to schools across the entire region. The registered teams will be broken up into four geographical regions who will vie for positioning as the field narrows to a five week regular season and then postseason competition.
“The more we talked to college clubs and scholarship schools and the community that wants to participate, the more and more we learned that last year was probably too exclusive,” Michael Sherman, Riot’s Collegiate Associate eSports Manager, said to Yahoo eSports. “Our endgame for uLoL really comes down to giving an opportunity to as many players as possible to either participate or cheer on their school.”
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According to Sherman, growing League of Legends means understanding where the game is currently at and “trying to adapt and being ahead of the curve.” He added that being in constant communication with eSports club presidents to keep teams regularly involved with the Campus Series and other similar collegiate initiatives will help with the stability of the league.
As Sherman clarified Monday that ULoL Rivalries is a separate entity from the ULoL Campus Series, but he could still see the two being connected.
“We’re always exploring different ways to give other fans ways to show their fandom,” Sherman said. “The Rivalry series was a great opportunity because it was right in the prime part of the offseason for both collegiate and professional (League of Legends). We’re always looking for different ways to engage the community.”