The LCK is set to merge with Riot Games Korea Ltd., starting on October 30th, 2025, with the merger aiming to allow a more stable revenue base for teams by letting esports operations work more closely with the game.
LCK and Riot Games Korea merger – What does it change?
Throughout the past ten years, the LCK was an independent entity operated by Riot Games Korea. While the league itself is set to remain untouched, the merger has the main goal of supporting the growth of the esports scene long-term and potentially bringing stronger revenues to the teams involved in the tier-one ecosystem.
With the merger, the LCK squads will be able to take advantage of revenue structures such as the Global Revenue Pool (GRP) and other revenues both inside and outside the game. will be added to the team distribution post-merger. The ‘LCK’ name will be kept as it is, featuring traditional rules and format proceeding as usual, with no overhauls.
Earlier this year, a report by DealSite revealed that the LCK had accumulated a net loss of 42.7 billion KRW (26 million euros) from 2022 to 2024, with revenues struggling to keep up with the rise of operational costs.
LCK 2025 Season Finals peaked at over 2 million viewers
The news came shortly after the end of the LCK 2025 season, with Gen.G taking their revenge against Hanwha Life Esports to lift the LCK trophy and head to Worlds 2025 as the #1 seed. The other three Korean representatives are HLE, KT Rolster, and T1, who will, however, have to face Invictus Gaming in the play-in stage to qualify for the official event.
According to esports data platform Esports Charts, the most-watched series of the season was the match between T1 and Gen.G, peaking at 2,031,979. The rivalry between the two powerhouses ended up being the highlight reel of the season, with all battles between the organizations in the top four in terms of viewership.
T1 will be playing IG on October 14, one day before the start of the main event with the Swiss stage.
