The professionals’ strike ends, the league starts – “should be glad they got something”

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In League of Legends, the US pros called a strike to give more weight to their demands on Riot Games. But Riot Games had the upper hand and threatened to cancel the season in the LCS altogether. Now there is some agreement. The LoL season in the USA starts on June 14th.

What was the argument about?

  • In the US there was an “academy league” in which professional teams had to set up “second teams” in which – in theory – they were supposed to let young talent play. However, the system did not work properly: hardly anyone saw the games, only a few talents came up, as Twitch streamer Tyler1 explained roaring.
  • Riot Games has now ended this system and replaced it with a new 2nd division, the NACL. Teams no longer have to provide an Academy team.
  • This caused an outcry among the professionals: they saw jobs at risk and feared that there would be even less support from Riot Games.

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    Pros hit, Riot hits back harder

    That’s what the pros demanded: The US Pro Players’ Association made 5 demands on Riot Games: Essentially, they wanted Riot Games to subsidize the 2nd league and guarantee players more job security.

    In order to emphasize the demands, they went on strike and simply did not play at the start of the 1st division, the LCS.

    Here’s how Riot Games reacted: There was a clear “no” from them. It was said that you couldn’t subsidize a second division that much. You understand the problems and the crisis in e-sports, but if the pros didn’t play in 2 weeks, then you would have to cancel the season, then no team from the USA would go to the Worlds either.

    Players’ association finds it “monumental” – players rather not

    This is the compromise now: Riot Games and the players have agreed on a compromise. The league will now start on June 14, as Riot Games wanted.

    In principle, Riot Games has not fully met any of the players’ demands, but there are some soft commitments and compromise decisions made to strengthen the 2nd division.

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    The players’ association itself emphasizes the success, 90% of the players would have joined a strike. That is historical. The solidarity of the professionals to the amateurs is “monumental.”

    Admittedly, here, too, one admits that one has only achieved partial success. We will continue to work on it (via kotaku).

    “Riot had the upper hand”

    However, the promises are viewed critically by many fans on reddit:

    One user says, “So the obligation to have an Academy team is still gone and none of the people who lost their jobs are getting them back, right? And nothing here helps the scene to remain stable in the long term?”

    The reddit user comes to the harsh verdict: the players’ association is incompetent.

    The answer he gets is: “What are you talking about? Riot had the upper hand. They can be lucky they got anything at all.”

    This is behind it: In fact, “should be glad they got something” seems to be the view that prevails. After Riot Games threatened to cancel the league altogether, everyone knew players would back down.

    With China, South Korea and Europe, Riot Games has three professional scenes that work much better than those in North America – in Germany we had fantastic games in the third division last year. So Riot Games has alternatives and could do without the LCS for half a year to set an example.

    But the players in North America don’t have much of an alternative: If they can’t play for half a year and the Worlds are also gone, that would probably endanger their existence.

    In the end, the strike probably had to end like this.

    The players’ “solidarity” with the amateurs wasn’t quite as rock solid:

    LoL players go on strike for their rights – but one of the most famous and richest turns traitor

    mmod-game