The 2023 LCS Summer split could be in jeopardy after the members of the LCS Players Association (LCSPA) voted in favor of a walkout. Here’s everything that you need to know about this ongoing saga.
The LCS Summer Split has been thrown into uncertainty after the league’s players “overwhelmingly” voted on May 28 to stage a historical walkout. The announcement highlights just how far apart Riot Games and the LCSPA are in terms of certain issues regarding the future of North American League of Legends.
The walkout vote was triggered by Riot’s removal of the obligation that LCS team had to compete in the North American Challengers League. The LCSPA felt betrayed by the decision because it wasn’t consulted in the matter and because Riot had promised that no changes would be made before 2024.
As seven organizations immediately pulled out of the Challengers League, “as many as 70 players, coaches and managers” lost their jobs overnight, according to the association.
Colin Young-Wolff/Riot GamesRiot Games has delayed the Summer split by two weeks following the LCS walkout vote
Collective action of this kind is unprecedented in the LCS, though there has been long-standing friction between Riot Games and the LCSPA. In March 2020, the players association voted to cancel the remainder of the Spring Split due to the global health emergency. In the end, however, Riot decided to keep both the LCS and the academy league going in a remote setup. The LCSPA was “disappointed that they felt as though they weren’t taken into consideration.”
Unlike then, however, the association has now decided to take action. After several days in which the possibility of a walkout seemed very much real, Riot Games decided to postpone the start of the tournament by two weeks with hopes of finding common ground with the LCSPA. However, if no agreement is reached, Riot Games is considering canceling the Summer Split and eliminating the region’s spots at Worlds 2023.
Here’s a comprehensive explainer to help readers understand the significance of the moment. This article will be updated further as more information becomes available.
- What is the LCS walkout?
- What is the LCSPA?
- What are the LCSPA’s demands?
- Riot Games’ response
- What happens now?
- Timeline of events
What is the LCS walkout?
On May 28, the players in the LCS, North America’s top League of Legends competition, voted in favor of a walkout following Riot Games’ controversial removal of the mandate that determined LCS teams had to field a roster in the North American Challengers League (NACL). LCS teams had long sought the possibility to opt out of the developmental league, and they voted to drop the requirement due to financial concerns amid what has been referred to as the “esports winter”.
— LCS Players Association (@NALCSPA) May 29, 2023
Within days, all but three of the ten LCS teams had announced that they were dropping out of the NACL before the Summer Split. Only FlyQuest, Team Liquid and Evil Geniuses opted to remain in the league, though questions remain about their plans beyond this year.
Riot’s decision prompted an immediate response from the LCS Players Association (LCSPA), which accused the developer of pandering to the teams’ needs and putting the NACL’s future at risk. “Riot failed today to provide any plan to ensure the NACL remains a viable talent pipeline for NA,” the association said in a statement.
LCSPA Executive Director Phillip Aram said that Riot made the call without consulting the association, which found out about the ongoing discussions between the developer and LCS teams through information leaked online. “We have been lied to,” Aram said in an interview with Travis Gafford. “We were told, throughout the process this year, from many people at Riot, that changes were being considered for 2024. And that is not what has happened.”
The LCSPA outlined a series of demands for the NACL for 2024 and beyond, including a promotion system and a robust revenue-sharing program. Those proposals were unaddressed by Riot, forcing the LCSPA to call a vote on a walkout.
What is the LCSPA?
The LCSPA was established by Riot Games in 2017 as the LCS was about to enter a franchising era. During those early years, some of the association’s biggest wins were the creation of a central contract database that allowed players to share salary and contract information with each other to improve bargaining power among players, the easing of streaming requirements in contracts, and the creation of the first-ever player summit.
In late 2020, Riot Games announced that it was ending its funding agreement with the LCSPA. Darshan Upadhyaya, the association’s president, said that the LCSPA would take this opportunity to “completely rebuild from the ground up”. Phillip Aram, a former Chief Gaming Officer at Evil Geniuses, joined the LCSPA as Executive Director in April 2021.
In March 2022, the LCSPA announced a multi-year partnership with OneTeam to manage and commercialize the group rights for all 100 players competing at both LCS and Academy levels.
The LCSPA has entered into a multiyear partnership with @OneTeamPartners who will assist the LCSPA in becoming a sustainable and independent player organization and will help set the LCSPA on the path to unionization. More: https://t.co/TgxvYmhLb4
— LCS Players Association (@NALCSPA) March 11, 2022
Members of the LCSPA also provide “external support” to the Americas Valorant Players Association (AVPA), according to a report from Dot Esports.
Each LCS team is represented by a player in the LCSPA, with the executive council being made up of five people. The advisory board has six members, including Aram.
LCSPA Executive Council:
- Darshan ‘Darshan’ Upadhyaya – Executive President
- Jo ‘CoreJJ’ Yong-in – Treasurer
- Ibrahim ‘Fudge’ Allami – Vice-President
- Philippe ‘Vulcan’ Laflamme – Vice-President
- Mohamed ‘Revenge’ Kaddoura – Vice-President
LCSPA Advisory Board:
- Phil Aram – Executive Director
- Ryan Fairchild
- Lauren Gaba Flanagan
- Stephen Ellis
- Cansu Akalin
- Bowen Chung
What are the LCSPA’s demands?
The LCSPA’s asks are the following:
- Institute ‘Valorant style’ promotion and relegation between the LCS and NACL.
- Allow LCS orgs to partner with affiliates for cost-sharing.
- Riot commits to a revenue pool for player salaries of $300,000 per NACL team per year.
- Institute a 3/5 roster continuity rule to provide players on released NACL rosters first priority in maintaining their slots in the upcoming NACL season if a majority continue to compete together.
- Riot guarantees LCS minimum contracts for the following year for the five players who win the LCS summer finals each year.
One of the biggest changes proposed is the introduction of a promotion system that would tie the LCS and the NACL, similar to what has been done in Valorant.
When announcing the revamped Valorant Champions Tour circuit, Riot Games established a promotion and relegation system in the three international leagues (EMEA, Americas and Pacific). In each region, the winner of a promotion tournament, called Ascension, earns a two-year slot in the international league.
Riot GamesThe LCSPA wants a VCT Ascension-like promotion system in League of Legends
Riot GamesThe LCSPA wants a VCT Ascension-like promotion system in League of Legends
In addition to having the opportunity to compete against the region’s best teams, the promoted teams will also receive revenue share and can qualify for international events, like VCT Masters and Valorant Champions. After those two years, the teams drop down to the Challenger league and must qualify again.
The possibility to have third-party entities help LCS teams run an NACL roster would be an incentive to keep supporting the league. “Based on our calculations, that could cut the cost of running an NACL team in half for an org,” Aram said on ‘The Four Horsemen’ show.
Riot Games responds to LCS walkout vote
In a May 31 statement from Naz Aletaha, the Global Head of LoL Esports, Riot Games finally addressed the walkout vote and the list of demands presented by the LCSPA.
Aletaha admitted that the academy system that has been in place until now has been “ineffective” and said that the new NACL model is a vital step toward building a prosperous and sustainable ecosystem that can replicate what has been done successfully in other major regions.
In order to further help the NACL through this transition, Riot Games decided to give Rally Cry, the league’s partner, a $300,000 fee. This funding, the developer noted, is in addition to the revenue share model announced last week.
Riot Games has also decided to postpone the start of the LCS Summer Split by two weeks, setting a new start date of June 15.
“Hopefully, this two-week window will give us time for productive dialogue between the LCSPA, teams, and the league and then resume LCS competition this summer,” the statement read.
Riot noted that further delays to the LCS Summer split will make it “nearly impossible to run a legitimate competition”. If that is the case, Riot is prepared to cancel the entire LCS Summer season, which would also eliminate the region’s slots at Worlds 2023.
“I want to be clear: That is not an outcome we’d want, but it’s, unfortunately, the reality of ensuring we run a fair, competitive global system,” Aletaha said.
Riot’s Global Head of LoL Esports also addressed the LCSPA’s demands and presented arguments as to why four of them are not viable.
As for the request to allow LCS teams to partner with affiliates to run NACL rosters, she said that Riot Games has encouraged affiliate relationships between the LCS and the NACL.
Aletaha’s statement makes no mention of Riot’s attempts to push LCS teams to field “scab” players or the reported temporary lifting of solo queue rank requirements to ensure the franchise squads had a roster ready to play on June 1 in the event of a walkout.
What happens now? Will there be an LCS walkout?
Shortly after Aletaha’s statement was posted, LCSPA issued a comment. The association thanked the community for its support and said that it asked Riot Games “for daily meetings – or more, if needed – to reach a resolution”.
— LCS Players Association (@NALCSPA) May 31, 2023
“Starting tomorrow [May 31], we plan to begin discussions that result in meaningful collaborative action to get our players back where they want to be: competing for fans on the LCS stage,” the LCSPA said.
The next two weeks are bound to be tense as Riot Games and the LCSPA sit down to discuss key matters about the future of the ecosystem. But it’s clear that Riot will play hardball at the negotiating table and that it will refuse to be held hostage with what it deems to be unreasonable demands – even if that means canceling the LCS Summer season.
Timeline of events
May 31:
- Riot Games announcesthat ticket sales for the LCS Championship Weekend will be “delayed until further notice”.
- The LCSPA responds to Riot Games’ statement announcingthat it plans to “begin discussions that result in meaningful collaborative action” that can lead to the return of LCS competition.
- Naz Aletaha, Riot Games’ Global Head of LoL Esports, issues a statement announcing that the Summer split has been postponed by two weeks and shutting down the LCSPA’s demands.
May 30:
- The LCSPA has a meeting with Riot later on Tuesday, Executive Director Phillip Aram told the Sports Business Journal.
- All player interviews and photo shoots ahead of the LCS have been canceled, with the normal media day ahead of the season being called off last minute.
- Riot Games is dropping the LCS solo queue ranking requirements for this weekend, according to Travis Gafford. Moreover, players will not be required to be present at the Riot Games Arena, in Los Angeles, and can play from anywhere.
May 29:
- The LCSPA saysthat it has been aware “for over a week of attempts to require teams to field scab players at the start of the season.” It adds that it believes players “will stand in solidarity” and that attempts to create scab rosters for the start of the Summer split “will fail”.
May 28:
- The LCSPA announces that the walkout vote “has overwhelmingly passed” and called on Riot Games to sit at the negotiating table and avoid this unprecedented collective action.
May 24:
- Riot Games announcesthe new format for the NACL for the Summer Split, with only ten teams, down from 16, and a $100,000 prize pool. A pathway to the NACL through open qualifiers is announced, along with a revenue-sharing program based on Twitch channel subscriptions.
May 23:
- The LCSPA outlinesa request list for Riot Games in the face of a threat of a player walkout.
- Independent reporter Mikhail Klimentov reveals that the LCSPA will ask LCS players to vote on a walkout on Sunday, May 28.
May 18:
- By this point, it is clear where the ten LCS teams stand regarding their involvement in the NACL. Cloud9, Immortals, TSM, Dignitas, Golden Guardians, NRG and 100 Thieves all left the league, while Team Liquid, FlyQuest and Evil Geniuses opted to remain.
May 12:
- Riot Games confirmsthat it has dropped the requirement that LCS teams need to field a roster in the Challengers League (NACL).In response, the LCSPA calls out Riot’s “lack of commitment to the NACL” and urged “players, coaches, streamers and fans to stand up in unison and demand for Riot to reverse this decision in order to protect the future of the LCS.