How Immersive Design Studios built a virtual dome for esports

The LCS DOME was the stage for the Riot Games’ League Championship Series (LCS) live production, a series of matches covered by 75 virtual cameras used in the virtual studio created by Immersive.

The League Championship Series (LCS) is the third-most popular major professional sports league among 18 to 34-year-olds in the United States. This year, due to the spread of COVID-19 in the United States, it was decided that all matches would be played online, after the first matches of the season were, as usual, played live at Riot Games’ studios in Los Angeles, California.

International software development and creative firm Immersive Design Studios (IDS) was asked to create a fully virtual studio for the 2020 Summer Split. IDS’s proprietary CANVAS software platform helped to reimagine the physical LCS Studios as a stunning and expansive 3D virtual world – the LCS DOME – to remotely live stream all matchups during the LCS Summer Split season and playoffs, amid the COVID-19 shutdown. Broadcasts can be viewed at watch.lolesports.com, Twitch, and YouTube.

CANVAS powered the live production for each LCS match, handling the LCS DOME’s 3D virtual environments, seamless integration of remote video feeds, dynamic virtual camera movements with over 75 virtual cameras, physically-accurate lighting, and more. CANVAS, which is built on Unreal Engine, is a cloud-based solution enabling large-scale, real-time interactive and immersive media experiences. Using the CANVAS API, the LCS team easily integrated CANVAS into their existing broadcast workflow for live, fully cloud-based control over all components of the virtual studio with nothing more than an iPad.

Push the boundaries of virtual broadcasts

CANVAS is Immersive’s proprietary software platform for interactive media presentations, ranging from cost-effective single-screen presentations to complex arena-scale projections and virtual studios. CANVAS effectively utilizes both game engine technology for real time interactivity with all 3D content, and cloud-based capabilities for flexible remote collaboration and broadcast.

One of the advantages of building a virtual studio is that you can build it as you like and where you want it. IDS was asked to develop the concept for the new LCS DOME, and they did: the virtual structure features a massive, clear geodesic dome set in a lush island landscape, with a variety of elegant interior environments for live commentary, post-match analysis, player interviews, and sponsor highlights. The exterior landscape is visibly dynamic through the dome’s clear panels, with realistic wildlife floating by and the clouds and lighting changing throughout the day. Live video feeds from analysts and players, all working remotely, are incorporated in various configurations into each interior environment.

“We were excited to work with the team from Immersive Design Studios as we found a way to delight our fans and community through bringing something new to our Summer Split remote broadcasts,” said Matt Archambault, Head of Partnerships and Business Development for North America at Riot Games. “The IDS team was aligned in our desire to continue to push the boundaries of virtual broadcasts.”

Going beyond a typical virtual studio

“It was a wonderfully collaborative experience working with the LCS team to totally reimagine what their broadcasts could look like,” said Kora Van den Bulcke, Co-Founder and President, Immersive Design Studios. “Our CANVAS technology enabled us to go above and beyond a typical virtual studio to showcase beautifully detailed and dynamic environments and engaging virtual camera movements, without worrying about performance limitations.”

The 2020 LCS Summer Split concluded this recently with a dazzling virtual fireworks display over the LCS DOME, created by IDS.

Immersive Design Studios is a leading software development and design firm powering next-generation interactive media processing technologies and large-scale immersive experiences. Established in 2014 by Thomas Soetens and Kora Van den Bulcke, Immersive is based in Montreal; its clients include Fortune 500 companies and industry leaders such as NVIDIA, SL Green Realty Corp., Lodha Group (India), McGill Real Estate, Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens, Cirque du Soleil, La Cité, Deutsche Bank, Prudential, and others.