Major Riot as Pro League of Legends Players Vote to Strike, LCS Delayed

Professional players in the LCS Players Association have made the decision to go on strike. This union is comprised of players from the North American league for League of Legends and they voted overwhelmingly in favor of a walkout. The reason behind this move is Riot Games' recent decision to eliminate the requirement for LCS organizations to have NACL developmental league teams. As a result, up to 70 players, coaches, and managers have been left without work just one month before the NACL's scheduled start. Riot Games had announced earlier that the North American Challenges League would be replacing the current developmental programs in North America, which included Academy and Proving Grounds. The NACL will consist of 16 teams, with 10 being official LCS organizations' fixed teams, and 6 being amateur qualifiers known as provisional teams. Despite the strike, the NACL is still set to commence on June 10.

Riot announced significant changes to the NACL on May 12th, stating that LCS organizations would no longer be required to support NACL teams, while also making all NACL teams eligible for relegation, including LCS developmental teams. As a result, 7 out of 10 LCS developmental teams, such as 100 Thieves and Cloud9, were removed from the league. The LCSPA presented various proposals to address the issue, but after receiving no response from Riot, they voted to go on strike. Although Riot did make some adjustments in response to the strike, the LCSPA's requests for a $300,000-per-team revenue pool were not met. Instead, Riot offered a $100,000 prize pool for the entire league and a revenue-sharing program. It is worth noting that the financial difficulties of the NACL led to one of the top qualifiers, Tiktok Tony Top, disbanding instead of competing in the initial NACL 2023 promotion tournament.

If negotiations with the LCSPA do not result in their return, Riot has threatened to cancel the upcoming summer season of the League of Legends North American league. In response, Riot has officially delayed the start date by two weeks, citing that going beyond that would render it impossible to conduct a legitimate competition. Furthermore, if the season is canceled, LCS teams will lose their slots in the League of Legends 2023 World Championships. Despite the LCSPA walkout starting on Thursday, June 1, it remains unclear if negotiations are ongoing. Riot's rejection of all five of the LCSPA's strike requests and offering an additional $300,000 to the NACL instead may indicate that a solution is not immediately forthcoming. These controversies surrounding the LCS are disappointing for fans, as Riot's decisions continue to be contentious.

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