As previously reported, the tournament considered the most “huge” in the history of Electronic Sports – Esports World Cup 2024 has officially appeared. The initial prize money of this tournament is 60 million USD (about 1524 billion VND) – an extremely “huge” number in Esports history. Not stopping there, this tournament also has an incredibly large scale with up to 20 disciplines competing in many different game genres from FPS, MOBA (including League of Legends) to fighting.
In terms of total prizes or number of disciplines, the Esports World Cup can be considered a “huge” tournament among the top in Esports history.
And at dawn on April 19, the bonus structure of 20 disciplines at the Esports World Cup was officially announced. However, this has caused enormous outrage in the League of Legends community. Even the press in the LPL region called on the teams of this region and T1 not to accept invitations to participate in the Esports World Cup in protest.
Accordingly, the total prize money for League of Legends at the Esports World Cup is only 1 million USD. This is a much smaller number than even mobile games like PUBG Mobile (3 million USD) or Mobile Legends Bang Bang (3 million USD). Even compared to another MOBA game, DOTA 2, the prize money of League of Legends is much smaller. Specifically, the bonus for the playoffs and selection phase of DOTA 2 is up to 10 million USD (5 million USD for each stage). Obviously, such a huge difference shows that the Esports World Cup organizers do not value League of Legends compared to other games.
The prize structure of 20 disciplines at the Esports World Cup was announced and League of Legends only has a prize money of 1 million USD, smaller than many other games.
It is important to know that the Esports World Cup is held in Arabia, a place with an extremely harsh climate. Furthermore, the Esports World Cup is expected to be held in early July and coincides with the group stage of the summer tournaments in LPL or LCK. Participating in this tournament (if any) can negatively affect the players, especially in terms of health.
T1 is said to be the first team to be invited to this tournament but there is a high possibility that they will refuse
Furthermore, the Esports World Cup is not part of Riot Games' official tournament system. A team winning this tournament does not give them any advantage at Worlds (the most important tournament of the year in League of Legends). Therefore, without outstandingly high prize money, the top teams in LPL and LCK have no reason to participate in this tournament.
Sohu page posted an article expressing outrage at the Esports World Cup: “Faker and LPL teams should not participate, the announced prize money for League of Legends is only 1 million USD, not equal to even mobile games.”
“After information about the prize money came out, I saw a lot of angry audiences. Faker and the LPL teams don't need to go all the way there” – One gamer commented
“Twelve teams compete against each other for a total prize pool of 1 million USD and receive nothing extra. Even if you win the championship, the reward you receive will not be too much. It's best that the top teams should not participate” – Another gamer sarcastically commented
Perhaps because of this problem, some information suggests that top League of Legends teams such as T1, Gen.G, BLG… are still considering but have not yet decided to participate in the Esports World Cup. If the prize structure of this tournament remains the same, it is understandable that the famous teams mentioned above refuse to participate.