LPL 2025 Split 3: Bilibili Gaming Claims Third Straight Title

A Third Straight Title for BLG

The League of Legends Pro League (LPL), China’s premier LoL competition, has crowned its 2025 champion. In a thrilling Grand Final on September 21st, Bilibili Gaming (BLG) clinched its third consecutive LPL title by defeating Top Esports Gaming, solidifying its status as a domestic powerhouse. This victory secures BLG’s direct entry into the upcoming 2025 World Championship (Worlds) as China’s top seed, fueling hopes that the team can go one step further than its runner-up finish in 2024 and bring the Summoner’s Cup back to China.

However, behind the celebration, the story of LPL Split 3 is nuanced. While BLG’s dominance continues, the tournament’s journey to this point reveals shifting viewership patterns and sets the stage for a final showdown to determine the region’s remaining Worlds contenders.

LPL Split 3 2025

The 2025 season introduced a new format for the LPL. Split 3 featured the 14 top teams from Split 2 competing in a tournament that would crown the circuit’s sole champion for the year. The Grand Final was a nail-biter. After a hard-fought 3-2 victory against Top Esports in the Upper Bracket Final, BLG found itself in a similar situation in the championship match, coming back from a 1-2 deficit to secure a 3-2 victory and the title.

Key Viewership Statistics

When examining the tournament’s popularity, it’s crucial to note that standard international tracking services do not include data from Chinese streaming platforms like Huya, Douyu, and Bilibili, where the vast majority of the LPL’s domestic audience tunes in. The statistics below reflect the international audience on platforms like Twitch and YouTube.

• Peak Viewers (PV): The Grand Final between Bilibili Gaming and Top Esports attracted 191,892 concurrent viewers.
• Average Viewers (AV): The split maintained a consistent audience of 39,767 Average Viewers .
• Historical Context: Despite having the least airtime among the top ten most-watched LPL competitions due to a smaller team lineup, LPL Split 3 2025 earned a spot among them. Its average viewership was higher than Split 2 and every split since 2023, except for the season-ending Regional Finals.

LPL Viewership in 2025

To understand the significance of these numbers, we need to look at the broader context of the 2025 season and historical trends.

Comparison with Other Regional Leagues

Among the five major regional leagues that ran concurrently, the LPL (excluding Chinese platform data) ranked as the third-most-watched internationally. However, it was the only major event to record a peak viewership below 200,000, with other regions like the LCK (Korea) and LEC (Europe) drawing significantly higher peaks.

The table below illustrates how the LPL’s international viewership compared to other regions earlier in the 2025 season.

The Domestic Power of the LPL

The international viewership figures tell only half the story. The LPL boasts a massive and passionate domestic audience that is not fully captured by global metrics. Historically, the league has seen staggering viewership numbers within China.

A clear indicator of this domestic strength is the enduring popularity of teams like Invictus Gaming (IG). IG features in every single one of the top ten most-watched regular-season matches in LPL history based on domestic viewership . Their two series against Bilibili Gaming in 2025 ranked as the 4th and 6th most-watched regular-season matches ever, with 4.19 million and 3.73 million views, respectively. This demonstrates that while international attention may fluctuate, domestic engagement for top-tier LPL rivalries remains incredibly strong, though it hasn’t yet surpassed the peak levels seen during the league’s “golden era” around 2020.

The Path Ahead

With BLG’s victory, the focus now shifts to the future. The LPL season is not quite over, and the stakes remain incredibly high.

Securing the Final Worlds Spots

The LPL Regional Finals, scheduled for September 25-27, will determine the third and fourth Chinese teams to qualify for Worlds 2025 . This tournament features the top four teams in championship points that haven’t already qualified via the Split 3 victory or total points. The format is a high-stakes double-elimination bracket, with all matches being best-of-five series . The winner of the upper bracket qualifies for the Worlds Swiss Stage as the 3rd seed, while the winner of the lower bracket enters the Play-In Stage as the 4th seed .

A Look at Worlds 2025

The 2025 League of Legends World Championship promises to be a spectacular event:

• Dates and Location: The tournament will be held from October 14 to November 9, 2025, in China across the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and Chengdu .
• Format and Prize Pool: Seventeen teams will compete for a record-breaking $5 million prize pool .
• LPL’s Challenge: As the host region and a perennial powerhouse, all eyes will be on the LPL representatives, especially Bilibili Gaming, to see if they can finally reclaim the World Championship title on home soil.

A Region at a Crossroads

The conclusion of LPL Split 3 2025 paints a picture of a region with distinct strengths and challenges. Bilibili Gaming has established a dynasty within China, and their methodical victory sets them up as a formidable contender for the World Championship. Yet, the viewership data highlights a contrast between the LPL’s robust domestic popularity and its more modest international audience compared to other major regions.

The upcoming LPL Regional Finals will complete China’s roster for Worlds 2025. The performance of these teams, particularly on the international stage, will be crucial in determining whether the LPL can spark a new wave of global excitement and solidify its position as the world’s leading League of Legends region.