League of Legends pros waking up this morning rubbing their eyes at what’s going on in the US LoL pro scene. The US professionals went on strike to push through demands for more money and support, but after Riot’s ice-cold response, they now seem to be giving in.
This is the prelude to the conflict:
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Players’ association strikes, makes 5 demands
What were the demands of the players? The Players’ Union asked Riot Games to make some changes that would bring more money and security to League 1 and League 2 players and teams.
The 5 master players in the LCS should receive a “guaranteed minimum contract” in the LCS in the next few years.
Apart from that, Riot Games should promote the 2nd league with promotion games like they do with Valorant and the 2nd league should be financially supported much more by Riot Games. They asked for $300,000 per team per year.
In addition, more security was demanded for junior teams that are being dissolved, and more freedom for LCS teams to enter into deals with other partners.
Long story short, players are demanding that Riot Games subsidize the 2nd division, NACL, with several million US dollars.
Riot Games is threatening to cancel everything
What was the reaction from Riot Games? The reaction from Riot Games was extremely harsh (via lolesports). The global e-sports boss Naz Aletaha has announced for the first time that he understands all the problems.
He said that they firmly believe in the LCS and want to strive to build a good youth system like in other regions.
We need an esports league that will one day bring the World Cup trophy back to North America. And we need a stable, economically healthy and predictable league that supports an ecosystem around it for players, teams, analysts, coaches, staff, casters and others.
Watch the “eSports winter” at Riot Games and think about how to react to it. So you see difficulties in the second division of the USA and want to change something here. The “Academy system” was ineffective, so they are now trying to establish a new model, the NACL, to bring more players from the 2nd division to the 1st. We want to support that financially.
To ensure that the quality is right, the season is now pushed back by 2 weeks.
But then Riot’s esports boss made the good cop disappear and brought out the bad cop. He said that if the players really wanted to go through with the strike, the entire summer season of the LCS would be canceled and no US team would qualify for the Worlds either:
This is not the result we want, but unfortunately it is the reality if we want to guarantee fair global competition.
Riot rejects demands – does not want to support league 2 with so much money
Regarding the individual points of the players, Riot’s e-sports boss says:
European professional looks on in amazement
What’s the reaction? The overall reaction is, “What the heck is going on?” One wonders at the harsh tone and consequences Riot is threatening.
Former world-class jungler Jankos, now 27, says: “I wake up and the US is a shit show – where am I going to retire?”
This alludes to the fact that many “disused EU professionals” go back to the USA at the end of their careers to make money there.
Some observers say: what were the players thinking? The LCS is a “subsidy operation” for Riot Games. Riot might even be happy if they could cancel the league.
The US players have apparently overestimated how much pressure they can put on Riot.
The players’ association already seems to be giving in and wants to seek dialogue
How are the US players reacting? Now that Riot has denied almost all of their demands, one might think the players’ association would be angry, but the opposite is true.
The players’ association is combative, but actually seems to be disarming verbally. They say: “There is no league without players.”
You feel constantly excluded from the decisions and have therefore called the strike.
Now you want to meet with Riot Games daily to find an agreement.
Apparently, the threat from Riot Games worked. The aim of the players’ association is now to bring the players back to the LCS stages.
It sounds like you bravely jumped at Riot Games like a tiger and now end up as a bedside rug. Riot Games just seems to have the upper hand. You don’t rely on the LCS the way the LCS does on Riot Games:
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