Arena: Home of the NA LCS
Riot··3 votes·32,035 views
Home of
the NA LCS
03 | 06 | 2017
Arena is a new monthly series about the whats, whys, and hows of the NA LCS, straight from the team behind the League. Over the next year, we'll be exploring topics that NA LCS fans are curious about such as decision-making, processes, and behind-the-scenes content. For our first post, we're taking a look at the transformation of our studios throughout the years and why we continue to make updates to the home of the NA LCS.
The countdown starts. The crowd shouts the descending numbers as they appear on the screen. The clap of thunder sticks gets louder and the audience stomps their feet. Spotlights shine brightly on the competing teams' emblems as their players try to squeeze in a final warm-up drill before the games begin on stage. Lolesports, YouTube, and Twitch are booted up with Kappas at the ready. The countdown hits zero. The audience roars as the red light of a camera switches on. A familiar human fist appears and smashes through the big screen. It's game time in the Battle Arena.
Since the LCS was created, it's always been our goal deliver a premier esports experience for fans in the stands as well as at home. When it came to our NA LCS live studio, we wanted to:
Create a place for pros to play at their best and demonstrate their skills
Design a hub where NA LCS fans could gather, celebrate, and cheer on their favorite teams and pro players
Underline awesome moments in game with high-quality production to get fans hyped
Showcase the unique identities and stories of NA LCS teams and pros
Create a living history of our sport by honoring previous winners in studio
While we've come a long way since the early days of the NA LCS, our goals remain the same as we iterate and improve on the studio. Now that the dust has settled on our new-look 2017 Battle Arena, we're sharing some insight on how we continue to evolve our studio spaces, direct from the heart and home of the NA LCS.
Early Days
At the start of the NA LCS, our modest studio, broadcast, and content were anchored in the game that our pros and players loved. We tried to make it as easy as possible for League players to drop into an NA LCS stream and immediately understand what was happening with the game.
With a year under our belts, we rented a soundstage in Manhattan Beach, CA to serve as our NA LCS Studio. From our roadshows, we knew how much the energy of a passionate crowd enhanced the experience for pros and fans watching at home. We created the opportunity for fans to gather and watch games live from the studio, bringing new energy to the weekly broadcasts.
Over time, viewers moved from watching the NA LCS as fans of League of Legends to being fans of teams and players. We kept that sense of familiarity from League of Legends to welcome new fans, but we improved ways to optimize the viewing experience for hardcore fans who were extremely knowledgeable about pros and teams.
When we moved to our first fully-owned studio in 2016, we kept red and blue side lighting behind teams, but started to feature team logos more prominently so that fans felt like they were cheering for a team and not a side. Photos of our past Spring and Summer Split winners on the walls replaced the splash art of the champions that they play. We hung team banners above the stage and lit them to make it easier to tell who was playing.
Two of a Kind
When we switched to a new format for Summer Split 2016, we had more games than ever before. To accommodate this schedule, we built another space called the Battle Theater to host our dual streams. In this new intimate space, we dialed up the elements of fandom including lighting the stage with team colors and displaying more photos of key moments from across teams rather than just honoring split winners.
As we looked to 2017, we took our most recent learnings from our Battle Theater and feedback from fans and pros to update our Battle Arena.
Arena Changes
Let's dive into some of the updates that we made to our Battle Arena this year:
Consistent experiences across spaces: In 2016, games in our intimate, wood-paneled Battle Theater looked and felt different than our larger, steel Battle Arena. We adjusted the look and feel of the Arena to create a more consistent experience for fans and pros regardless of which part of the NA LCS Studio they were in — meaning that matchups in each space felt equally significant.
We also took fandom learnings from the Battle Theater and incorporated them in the Battle Arena by adding player photos behind the pros and installing more lights in team colors to transform their side of the stage.
Improving the fan experience: After we moved to Bo3 format, there could be up to six games per day rather than five with Bo1. We felt the previous Battle Arena wasn't delivering a comfortable enough experience for fans to fully enjoy the live games. We installed a bigger screen and more comfortable chairs. We expanded our walkways to make it easier for fans to get to the stage for a victorious high five with the pros, easily move around the studio to stock up on merch, or grab a quick Donger Dog between the games.
These details can seem small, but we think they can have a big impact on the energy level of the audience, which in turn is a critical part of the show. Making the in-studio experience more fun and more hype leads to a better experience for pros and viewers watching from home.
Leveling up the pro player experience: When we moved to the current NA LCS Studio, we only had six practices room and a player lounge. It was a bit of a logistical juggling act on game days so we're currently adding two more practice rooms to create a more consistent experience each gameday. To ensure our pros are the most prepared they can be on game days and aren't stressed with logistics, each competing team will have a dedicated space with PCs to practice, strategize, and warm-up upon arrival. We've also expanded our player lounge to provide more space for the pros to prepare or recover from the games by relaxing, socializing, eating, and watching the games outside of their practice rooms.
Honoring historic moments: Who could forget Cloud9's domination when they debuted in the NA LCS in 2013, Counter Logic Gaming rewarding the Faith Age with back-to-back championships, or TSM adding their fourth split championship to their record last Summer? We installed spotlights above the championship banners and began to light them to pay tribute to these accomplishments throughout the years and add another way to recognize who is playing.
Delivering more content: At the end of Summer Split 2016, there were more matches than ever. Fans couldn't watch every single game as they could in the past. We doubled down on the content that fans told us they'd loved in order to keep the NA LCS accessible in new ways. In order to deliver more NA LCS content we needed more space, so we constructed a modular and adaptable stage. Now we can use our Battle Arena to film shows such as This or That about current topics or NA LCS Tonight to recap the week, and future pilots.
If your favorite caster wasn't on the desk, we created a way for them to chime in or share an additional of analysis to help fans understand the current game on a deeper level from a new interview space backstage. The new interview space will soon be the home of more post-game interviews in order to help build team fandom and pro allegiance.
We've come a long way since the start of the NA LCS and we couldn't have done it all with the support of our fans, pros, and teams. We aren't done improving yet. We already have our to-do list for this Summer and we'll be focusing on how we can make the NA LCS Studio feel more like a second home for our pros. As we look to future splits, any updates we make keep our core goals in mind. If a change or idea falls short, we can make changes either during the season or in between splits to ensure we're delivering the experience that we aspire to create.
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