Riot Games EMEA has announced a operational overhaul of the Riot Games Arena in Berlin, building a second production space inside the venue that will allow the LEC and VCT EMEA to run simultaneously from Summer 2026. The model is expected to remain in place through 2027.
The existing live space, now renamed the Arena Stage, keeps its ticketed, audience-filled identity. Alongside it, a newly constructed Studio Stage operates as a broadcast-first environment with no tickets available for matches held there. The dual-stage layout mirrors Riot Games’ Los Angeles studio, which already produces VCT Americas and the LCS in parallel.
For LEC viewers, the practical change is targeted but real. The Studio Stage will be used during one week of the Summer Split, with the rest of the season continuing on the Arena Stage as fans have always known it. That single week will be broadcast-only, meaning no Berlin live audience for those matches.
The driver behind the expansion is VCT EMEA’s growth: Stage 2 kicks off on July 15 with Challengers League teams joining the main competition for the first time, generating a match volume incompatible with a single-stage venue. By splitting production across two spaces, Riot Games can also tailor each league’s on-air presentation to its own identity, according to the developer’s announcement.
Riot Games framed the tradeoff as funding bigger live moments elsewhere — the VCT EMEA Stage 2 Finals heading to Barcelona for the first time, and continued LEC Roadtrips.
