Riot Games accidentally leaked four cities hosting the 2022 League of Legends World Championship via an announcement video on YouTube. The video originally aired on November 20 at approximately 17pm CT, but was quickly made private minutes later. The hype video was long enough for fans to take note of future Worlds locations.
The four cities include New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Mexico City. The international event will cover North America from the group stage to the finals. This will be the first time Worlds has hosted in North America since 2016. This will also be the first international LoL event to be held in Mexico.
Riot Games describes this Worlds 2022 event as a "solid continent tour" marking Worlds' return to North America after a six-year hiatus. This will also be the first Worlds to span multiple cities in two years.
While Worlds 2020 takes place only in Shanghai, the latest World Championship was intended to be a five-city tour in China. For months, Worlds 2021 was supposed to span Shanghai, Qingdao, Wuhan, Chengdu and Shenzhen. As a result, the biggest esports event of the year had to be moved to a singular venue once again, and the entire competition took place in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Whether Worlds 2022 will have a live audience has yet to be confirmed. More information will likely be released following the official confirmation of Worlds cities and as safety guidelines evolve regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. For now, fans can enjoy this secret information about the next World Championship.