Riot Games announces three-year partnership with Esports World Cup

In a surprise announcement, Riot Games revealed a three-year-long partnership with Esports World Cup. This deal covers the big three Riot League of Legends, Valorant, and Teamfight Tactics which will be featured in the upcoming 2nd edition of Esports World Cup in Riyadh.

“We’re granting a license to the EWC for League, TFT, and VALORANT for the next three years. As part of this agreement, you’ll also see limited ads for the EWC, as well as an esports tournament included in Riyadh Season later this year, during our global tournaments, starting with Masters Bangkok for VALORANT,” Riot said.

The first time Riot Games made a third-party appearance for an esports event, fans were quite surprised. It was the first time someone other than Riot was hosting a League of Legends tournament on a massive scale and believed it might be a one-time thing. However, this doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

Riot plans to expand further into third-party tournaments

Apart from EWC, Riot Games also revealed that it plans to support more third-party esports tournaments globally. Not only that, the company intends to promote these events too so both teams and fans will not miss out on anything. This is one of the better decisions taken by Riot following recent controversy.

“Like all third-party events, participation in the EWC is completely optional for teams, pros, talent, and creators, and that choice has no impact whatsoever on their relationship with Riot and their role in our official events,” the company further added.

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What made Riot Games change its perspective on third-party events?

Last year’s decision to include League of Legends in the Esports World Cup was sort of an experiment for Riot Games. Following the event, the feedback was quite positive from the players who got to take home some extra cash. For those who don’t remember, the 2025 EWC featured a prize pool of over $62 million.

This was a significant help to esports organizations in an industry where making money has been a bit rough. The addition of other games will further extend these benefits. Riot also benefits from these events with licensing fees and all so it’s a win-win situation for everyone.