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Players in North America League of Legends The esports league voted to pull out in protest at Riot Games’ decision to no longer require franchises to field an amateur team. Since Riot’s announcement, many franchises have already dropped their amateur teams for the summer season, cutting off an important development pipeline for players who want to compete in the main League Championship Series (LCS). The vote, held by the LCSPA, which represents North America League of Legends esports players, passed “overwhelmingly” according to a tweet early Monday.
It’s unclear exactly when the walkout will take place, but assuming the two sides can’t reach an agreement, it seems likely that it will happen at the start of the summer season (also known as the “summer break”) on June 1. .
Tensions over the issue had been simmering for some time. On May 12, Riot Games announced that franchises had asked it to drop the mandate requiring them to field teams in the amateur league, the North American Challengers League (NACL), and that it would drop that mandate. In same day statementplayers pushed for some sort of structured amateur competition, noting that “more than 50% of current LCS pros have come through the NACL/Academy system” and that Europe, China and Korea maintain developmental leagues competitive.
League players expressed disappointment with Riot’s decision not to let franchises field NACL teams. “I wouldn’t be in [the] LCS if it hadn’t been for the Academy,” Palafox, an NRG LCS team player, wrote on Twitter. “The Academy/NACL system gave me the opportunity to pursue a professional career,” tweeted Chime, a player for TSM.
Many teams have already backed down from the NACL
However, in the days following Riot’s announcement, five of the ten LCS teams said they would not be participating in the NACL this summer (100 thieves, Cloud 9, Dignitas, Golden GuardiansAnd NRG), and the LCSPA tweeted that two others would also not have NACL teams (TSM And Immortals). Many North American esports organizations have struggled lately – TSM has announced that it will be leave the LCS for another regionNRG recently acquired Counter Logic Gaming and 100 Thieves laid off staff in January – and some of the statements from franchises highlighted the economic hardships of having an amateur team.
On Tuesday, journalist Mikhail Klimentov reported that the players will vote on the walkout. A LCSPA list of requests for Riot Games includes a promotion and relegation system between the LCS and NACL, revenue pools for NACL salaries, and guaranteed one-year contracts for LCS players who win the Summer Finals. On Monday, the LCSPA asked players to don’t cross the release line if he is recruited by a team to play as a substitute.
Riot Games and the LCSPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
