Riot Games Korea revealed the new League of Legends exclusive stadium called LoL Park.
Located in Jongno-gu, Seoul the LoL Park is the new home for the LCK, one of the most competitive League of Legends tournaments in the world. The new stadium marks the beginning of a new era for the LCK and the professional players in the region.
LCK summer champions Song “Smeb” Kyung-ho, and Go “Score” Dong-bin attended the event alongside Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Han “Peanut” Wang-ho, Lee “Kuro” Seo-haeng, and other LCK players.
The LoL Park has a capacity for 500 people, the seats surround the open booths. This is one of the biggest changes, in the past, the LCK had closed booths and players faced the audience. Multiple large screens will broadcast all the action to the audience. For the LoL Park, Riot Games purchased state-of-art equipment to guarantee a high-quality broadcast.
In previous seasons, once the action started, the coaching staff moved to the waiting room in the back. In the new LoL Park, the coaches can watch the games from a box on the edge of the stage. The waiting rooms were upgraded, players can relax in the couch area or warm up with the new computers available.
The fan experience at the LoL Parks includes a new are for fan meetings, an interview area, and a Riot Store. The LCK Exhibition zone includes the jerseys from the teams and mini figures of the players. Inside the complex, Riot Games opened the first Riot PC Bang. An internet cafe with 100 stations where fans can play before the matches and continue to play when the LCK is not on.
In an interview with Inven Global, Lee Seung Hyun, representative of Riot Games Korea said: “I only hope that LoL PARK can provide a unique experience to everyday life. Jongno is a place that has a lot of companies and a lot more employees. I’d like this facility to be a place where you look twice and visit when you see it. The League focused stadium is more of an arena style than a studio. I have made sure and prepared this place to be a pleasant space for players. In addition, I did my best to set up various attractions and comfortable facilities for the audience who might visit here.”
The Play-In stage in the upcoming World Championships is taking place at the LoL Park starting on October 1. The Riot PC Bang is currently open for visitors, as for the rest of the stadium, it will be fully functional starting on January 2019.
Esports Insider says: This is the first step towards a bigger and better LCK. As esports growth, infrastructure has become the key to the improvement of the regions. The best example is China, the teams own arenas and facilities where players have access to all the resources necessary to become the best. Chinese teams have surpassed Korean squads in multiple occasions in 2018. It is time for Korea to invest more if they want to keep up.