Looking Ahead to the Major Esports Event Schedule in 2023
2023 is poised to be a banner year for esports leagues around the world. With 2022 marking a return to in-person events, 2023 will look to pick up where things left off as we entered into the pandemic. In addition, VALORANT Esports is set to take off this year with major changes to the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT). League of Legends (LoL Esports) will look to continue running strong numbers. However, questions linger on whether their shifting of the LCS to weekdays, along with the unfortunate news that James 'Dash' Patterson is stepping away from the desk, will ultimately hinder the game. And in Call of Duty, the CDL had a strong year in 2022 and nothing seems like it will stop continued growth this year.
Here are the major esports dates to set on your calendars for 2023.
League of Legends
January 26th - LCS Season Begins - For our North American viewers, the LCS is kicking off on a Thursday and it definitely feels weird. Riot Games seems confident that their decision to switch to weekdays is the right one, but ultimately, the proof will be in the pudding (or in the viewership numbers). It certainly doesn't help that one of the most iconic voices in esports, James 'Dash' Patterson, has announced he won't return as a weekly presence for the LCS this year.
*UPDATE 1/18/23* - Riot has announced that due to fan feedback, they'll be moving the LCS start time to 2 PM PT/5 PM ET on Thursdays and Fridays.
March 23-31 - LCS Spring Split Playoffs - Play continues weekly through February and into March until the playoffs begin at the end of March. By this point, we'll have a decent idea of what North America's competitive level is going to look like this year.
April 8th-9th - LCS Spring Split Finals - With North America's slot at the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI) on the line, the final teams in the spring split will compete for dominance.
May - Mid-Season Invitational - The exact dates of MSI 2023 will be announced later this Winter, but for now, we can hazard a guess it'll be in May. That's mainly because it's almost always in May. Look forward to North America being hyped up and then resoundingly demolished.
LCS Schedule Shifts to Thursday and Fridays
June - Summer Split Begins - The back leg of the LCS season will kick off in June, probably around E3 time. Teams will be amped up, having tuned their mistakes from Spring, and laser focused on earning a spot at Worlds.
August - Summer Split Playoffs/Finals - The LCS season will wrap up right around the end of August as North America finalizes its 2023 winners and also its selections for who will represent them at the 2023 World Championship.
October - Worlds 2023 - The play-in stages at Worlds 2023 will kick off in the early parts of October and run through the end of the month.
November - 2023 World Finals - The two best teams in the world will meet on the biggest stage in esports around the first week of November.
VALORANT
February 13th - LOCK IN Sao Paolo - The 2023 VCT will feature three ten-team leagues in different regions around the world. But before those leagues start competing, there will be a special three week event in Brazil, inviting all 30 teams to come to compete.
March 26th - Americas League Begins - North America will compete in the Americas League. Late March will see the kick off of eight weeks of competition, with the top three teams qualifying for VALORANT Masters 2023.
VALORANT Collections that Nailed It and Others that Didn't
June - VCT Masters 2023 - Tokyo will welcome the top teams from every league to Japan as they square off in the second international event of the year. The top teams will qualify automatically for the World Championships.
July - Last Chance Qualifiers - The month of July will play host to the last chance qualifiers that will fill out the remaining bracket of VCT Champions 2023.
August - VCT Champions 2023 - August and September will see the world championships for VALORANT in 2023. The top 3 teams of every league, plus one extra last chance qualifier from each league, will make up the 12 team bracket.
*Note - 2024 will see the introduction of a second split, akin to the League of Legends format, and the Lock-In preseason tournament will be dropped.
Call of Duty
January 13 - Boston Breach Major II Qualifiers - Call of Duty kicks off the 2023 Esports Season as we settle in for the second major of CoD esports year. Teams will compete across the CDL for the best seeding in the upcoming major.
February 2nd - Boston Breach Major II Tournament Weekend - Boston plays home to the first offline major of 2023. Every team will be on hand to compete with those who did best in the qualifiers getting the easiest path to victory.
Full Call of Duty League 2023 Season Major Schedule
February 17th - Optic Texas Major III Qualifiers - All eyes turn towards the third major of the season as competition resumes after a week off.
March 9th - Optic Texas Major III Tournament Weekend - The CDL travels down to Texas for the third major of the season.
March 24th - Major IV Qualifiers - Despite successfully hosting the event last year, the fourth major of the season will not be held in New York after all. Instead, other cities are being considered for the honor.
April 13th - Major IV Tournament Weekend - This one is going to sting for the Subliners and the New York faithful, no matter where it's held.
May 5th - Toronto Ultra Major V Qualifiers - The last major of the season will take us north of the border to our friends in Canada.
May 25th - Toronto Ultra Major V Tournament Weekend - This will mark for many the last chance to make the post-season, so you can bet all eyes will be on Toronto.
TBD - 2023 CDL Playoffs
