Riot Games has announced the return of League of Legends Game Changers (LGC): Rising, the premier EMEA competition for women in the League of Legends (LoL) ecosystem. The 2026 season features a significant expansion in both duration and scope, running from May to October.

The reimagined format kicks off on 29–31 May and will consist of multiple stages where teams compete for qualification points. The top six teams from the cumulative leaderboard will secure a spot in the October Playoffs, joined by additional invited squads from established national inclusive circuits.

To operate the circuit, Riot has partnered with N.E.O. (New Esports Org), the recently launched agency led by industry veterans Bertrand Amar and Matthieu Dallon. In a move to increase the scene’s visibility, N.E.O. is introducing community broadcasting and co-streaming for the competition.

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“Building an inclusive and supportive environment for all players is fundamental to what we do. The continuation and evolution of the League of Legends Game Changers goes beyond competition: it’s about actively creating the conditions for women across EMEA to step forward, compete at the highest level, and be seen and recognised for their talent and achievements,” Riot Games stated at the official announcement.

The move to outsource LGC operations follows the recent launch of N.E.O. in Paris. The company has rapidly secured a significant footprint in the European market, also holding the rights to operate the League of Legends EMEA Masters, EVO France, and international Rocket League events alongside BLAST.

The formalisation of the 2026 LGC season comes at a time when the commercial interest in women’s esports is seeing new movement after a difficult year. Even though Riot Games kept the Game Changers initiative running both in League of Legends and VALORANT, the women’s scene has faced a significant setback in 2025 with the suspension of the Counter-Strike 2 (CS2) ESL Impact circuit.

However, a recent L’Oréal Paris‘ one-off activation with FURIA and its inclusive CS2 roster, aiming to “test the waters” for the brand in women’s esports, brought attention for possible new non-endemic brands approaching the scene.

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