and PG Esports sets the record

At the 2021 League of Legends World Cup, the Chinese team Edward Gaming, presented in the most important international video game competition of Riot Games as champion of the LPL national tournament, defeated in the final the favorites Damwon Kia, Koreans and possessors. of the trophy won in China a year ago against another Chinese, Suning, unleashing tens of thousands of fans who took to the streets or shouted from their windows to celebrate the trophy.

Moral revenge

The victory of the EDGs takes on a meaning that goes beyond competition and involves the entire Chinese society. E-sports is a huge issue in Beijing (despite the fact that under new laws minors can play online for only a few hours a week) and any event involving Chinese representatives or individual players becomes an occasion of revenge and pride. Especially in this specific case after Riot Games decided to move everything to Reykjavik, Iceland, just under a month before the start of the world championship that should have been held in China, due to excessive restrictions introduced by the government. himself from the spread of Covid19.

Unexpected victory

Edward Gaming’s victory also has a purely competitive meaning: the Chinese team has never been considered among the favorites for the final victory of the tournament, neither at the beginning of the competition nor when it reached the final. A little consideration shown by most experts, perhaps due to a not too fair game: however, after closing the group with four wins and two losses, they won their first world title after beating RNG in the Chinese derby, the Korean Geng in the semifinals and the Damwon Kia in the final, always with a score of 3-2, demonstrating its adaptability and ability to evolve during the series itself. Nipping in the bud, among other things, what appeared to be the new Korean dominance in League of Legends.

Registration numbers

Twenty-two participating teams, the best in the world, have brought to life a competition once again managed wisely and intelligently by Riot Games, despite the obvious problems related to the pandemic. There is no live audience yet, but this hasn’t stopped more than 4 million contemporary viewers spread across the world from watching the final from home (excluding Chinese whose data on other platforms likely travels in the tens of millions). A number to which PG Esports, the official Italian broadcaster, also contributed, which broke a new record by breaking the barrier of 40,000 simultaneous viewers of the Italian live directed masterfully by the trio Lapo “Terenas” Raspanti, Roberto “KenRhen” Prampolini and Emiliano ” Moonboy “Marini during the game and by the analyst desk made up of Giulia“ Juniper ”Migliore, the first woman in Italy to lead an esports event of this magnitude, Dimitri“ Noodlez ”Zografos and Gabriele“ Wolcat ”Catterin.