MSI will be the first international tournament in South Korea since the League of Legends World Championship in 2018. The mid-season tournament will be held in South Korea for the first time. The exact dates and host locations for the event have yet to be confirmed. The news that MSI will debut in South Korea in 2022 was first reported by Dot Esports.
The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated planning for major Riot Games events over the past few years, including moving the 2021 League of Legends World Championship from China to Europe and switching between in-person and remote play at both international and local events. brought. Last weekend, the League Championship Series in North America returned to in-person play and media availability, but the virus remains a cause for concern over travel, contagion and the adaptations the coronavirus has made during the pandemic. .
South Korea saw an increase in cases last month, with 19 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the week of February 13 alone, according to the COVID-360.000 Dashboard by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering. In the week of January 16, the country reported nearly 28.000 new cases. It is unclear whether the increase in cases will affect Riot's plans for MSI 2022.