LPL and LCK Players to Skip Road to Asian Games

Key insights

5 takeaways

01
Professional players from China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL) and South Korea’s League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) will not participate in the Road to Asian Games qualifying event.
02
The decision to skip the event, scheduled for June 15 – July 16 in Macau, is primarily due to scheduling conflicts with ongoing league-related competitions.
03
The Road to Asian Games serves as a qualifying tournament for the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games, but participation is not mandatory for teams to compete in the main event.
04
Teams that participate in the Road to Asian Games and perform well earn advantageous seeding for the Hangzhou Asian Games.
05
The Road to Asian Games features multiple esports titles, including League of Legends, Honor of Kings, Peacekeeper Elite, Dota 2, Dream of The Three Kingdoms, Street Fighter V, and FIFA Online 4.

Summary

Professional players from China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL) and South Korea’s League of Legends Champions Korea (LCK) will not participate in the Road to Asian Games, a qualifying event for the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games. The decision stems primarily from scheduling conflicts, as the qualifying tournament, held in Macau from June 15 to July 16, 2023, overlaps with ongoing domestic league commitments for players in both regions.

The Road to Asian Games serves as a preliminary competition organized by the Olympic Council of Asia and the Asian eSports Federation. While the event provides participating teams with advantageous seeding for the main Hangzhou Asian Games, attendance is not mandatory for qualification. The event covers several prominent esports titles, including League of Legends, Dota 2, and Street Fighter V, among others.

This development highlights the ongoing challenges of integrating high-level professional esports leagues with international multi-sport event calendars. Because the qualifying event is optional, LPL and LCK organizations have prioritized their established league schedules over the potential seeding benefits offered by the Road to Asian Games. The information regarding these absences was initially reported by the South Korean publication Daily eSports in May 2023.