Organizer
Tournament edition
Mid-Season Invitational 2018
Royal Never Give Up won MSI 2018, defeating Kingzone DragonX 3–1 in the final. Fourteen regional champions competed in Berlin and Paris from May 3 to 20.
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Updated October 28, 2026Competition snapshot
Host and dates
Play-In & groups: Riot Games Arena, Berlin, Germany · May 3–15; knockout: Zénith Paris - La Villette, Paris, France · May 18–20, 2018
The Berlin venue was then known as the EU LCS Studio.[1]
Champion
RNG defeated Kingzone DragonX 3–1 in the final.[3]
Combined prize pool
USD 1,370,520
Leaguepedia records the final prize total as of May 20, 2018.[3]
Games
Participant scale
14 teams
Riot expanded MSI to include all 14 professional leagues.[2]
CategoryPartnerCommercial note
Category
Organizer
Partner
Riot GamesCommercial note
Tournament organizer · Recorded in the 2018 edition.[1]
Category
Gaming hardware · broadcast segment
Partner
Acer PredatorCommercial note
Official sponsor and monitor provider; Acer Big Plays presenting sponsor · Recorded in the 2018 edition.[7]
Category
Insurance · North American sponsorship
Partner
State FarmCommercial note
North American sponsor · Recorded in the 2018 edition.[8]
Reach & distribution
Audience
Peak concurrent viewers
19.8 million[6]
Riot-reported tournament peak; MSI was broadcast across 14 digital platforms and two TV channels.
Hours watched
363 million[6]
Riot-reported live-broadcast viewing time across 12 days of competition.
Finals unique viewers
60 million[6]
Riot-reported unique audience for the May 20 final between Royal Never Give Up and Kingzone DragonX.
Finals average concurrent viewers
11 million[6]
Riot-reported average concurrent audience for the May 20 final.
Distribution
PTG Database Analysis
MSI 2018 brought all 14 professional leagues into one tournament. The Play-In and group stages ran in Berlin from May 3 to 15, then the knockout stage moved to Paris for May 18–20. Royal Never Give Up beat Kingzone DragonX 3–1 to win the title. Leaguepedia reports a final prize pool of USD 1,370,520.[1][2][3]
ZDNet Korea reported Riot’s post-event figures: a tournament peak of 19.8 million concurrent viewers and 363 million hours of live-broadcast viewing across 12 competition days. For the May 20 final, Riot reported 60 million unique viewers and an average of 11 million concurrent viewers. ZDNet noted the event aired in 15-plus languages across 14 digital platforms and two TV channels. These are distinct measures and should not be compared as if they were the same audience count.[6]
Riot named Acer an official sponsor and monitor provider for MSI 2018 and made the Acer Big Plays segment a sponsored broadcast feature. Riot also listed State Farm as a North American sponsor of MSI, Worlds and the 2018 All-Star Event.[7][8]
References8
- [1]2018 Global Esports Event Announcement — Riot Games
- [2]MSI 2018 Format Update — Riot Games
- [3]MSI 2018: Meet the Teams — Riot Games
- [4]MSI 2018 — Leaguepedia — Leaguepedia
- [5]MSI 2018 TROPHY — LoL Esports Photos / Riot Games
- [6]2018 LoL MSI, 최고 동시 시청자 1,980만 명 기록 — ZDNet Korea
- [7]Acer continues their sponsorship of the NA LCS and EU LCS in 2018 — Riot Games
- [8]State Farm and NA LCS partner up in 2018 — Riot Games
Commercial opportunities
Official sponsor and monitor partner
Acer Predator was an official sponsor and monitor provider for MSI 2018; Acer supplied Predator XB1 monitors for the stage and professional practice rooms.[7]
North American sponsor
State Farm was a North American sponsor of MSI 2018 as part of Riot's 2018 global esports partnerships.[8]
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