Riot Games says every team in the PCS, VCS and LJL will begin each split at the domestic level in 2027, with the strongest teams qualifying for the League of Legends Championship Pacific. In its announcement on Sept. 21, Riot described the LCP as the bracket stage where the region’s best teams will compete for regional titles and places at global events. The announcement does not yet specify the number of slots or the competition format.
The change addresses a cost and access problem in the Asia-Pacific League of Legends ecosystem. Riot says teams competing from Taipei faced rising relocation costs, weaker direct contact with local fans and long periods away from players’ homes and support networks. Allowing teams to operate from their domestic leagues is intended to reduce those pressures while creating a more continuous local-to-regional fan journey.
The LCP will still sit at the top of the regional pyramid and remain the sole APAC route to global events, which preserves the value of inter-regional competition but turns the domestic leagues into the regular entry point rather than a source of only occasional promotion candidates. Riot also says the Regional Global Revenue Pool will continue to support current LCP teams, including teams that earn promotion or defend their places in the upcoming Promotion Series, and that teams qualifying for global events through the more open route will be eligible for Global Event GRP. The commercial impact will depend on how those payments, slots and travel requirements are implemented.
Under the current structure, domestic teams have one annual opportunity to compete for LCP promotion, and only one or two teams from each league enter that process. In 2027, every team in the PCS, VCS and LJL is expected to compete for an LCP place each split, with the LCP then bringing together the split’s leading teams for the regional stage and qualification to global competition. The Sept. 21 announcement kept a route open for Wild Card regions but did not publish slot allocations or the format.
Riot’s Sept. 23 open invitation asks organizations interested in running a Wild Card tournament to register their interest and says only shortlisted applicants will be contacted. On Sept. 26, LCP product lead ChisinX said the form had mistakenly omitted OCE, that the option had been restored, and that organizers applying to run a tournament in one specific OCE country should select “Other” and name the country. Slot allocations, the format and the 2027 calendar remain unpublished.
