League of Legends professional players in the LCS Players Association have voted to strike. The union, which is made up of professional players from the North American professional league for League of Legends, recently voted "overwhelmingly" to walk out. The choice was prompted by Riot Games' decision to remove a requirement that LCS organizations also operate NACL developmental league teams. The LCSPA states that this led to "as many as 70 players, coaches, and managers" being out of work less than a month ahead of the NACL's start.
In November 2022, Riot Games announced the formation of the North American Challenges League, joining League of Legends' 2023 esports plans. This league would replace League of Legends' current developmental programs in North America, which included Academy and Proving Grounds. The NACL would include 16 teams, with 10 being "Fixed Teams" replacing Academy teams formed by official LCS organizations and 6 "Provisional Teams" being amateur qualifiers. The NACL is still scheduled to start on June 10.
Riot would announce substantial changes to the NACL on May 12, confirming that it would no longer require LCS organizations to support NACL teams. Further, all NACL teams would be eligible for relegation, including LCS developmental teams. This resulted in 7 out of 10 LCS developmental teams, including 100 Thieves and Cloud9, being cut. The LCSPA quickly proposed several options to improve the situation but ultimately voted to go on strike following Riot's response, or lack thereof.
The vote to strike did result in some back-and-forth, with Riot Games making at least some changes. The LCSPA asked for a $300,000-per-team revenue pool, among other guarantees. Riot instead offered a $100,000 prize pool for the entire league, as well as a revenue-sharing program. It should be noted that the NACL financial situation led to one of the top qualifiers of the initial NACL 2023 promotion tournament, Tiktok Tony Top, disbanding instead of participating.
With the start of the League of Legends North American league's summer season quickly approaching, Riot is threatening to cancel the season if negotiations don't lead to the return of the LCSPA. For now, Riot has officially delayed the LCS season start date by two weeks. Delaying beyond two weeks would make it "impossible to run a legitimate competition," according to Riot. Riot also says it would take away LCS teams' slots in the League of Legends 2023 World Championships if the season was canceled.
The LCSPA walkout will reportedly begin on Thursday, June 1, meaning the strike has yet to officially begin. While it's unclear if negotiations between Riot and the LCSPA are active, the two-week LCS delay and threat of a full season being canceled show Riot doesn't believe a solution is immediately at hand. Given Riot rejects all five of the LCSPA's strike requests in its LCS delay announcement, instead offering an extra $300,000 to the NACL as a whole, two extra weeks may not be enough. With controversies surrounding the League of Legends LCS already in 2023, Riot's decisions continue to be disappointing to fans.
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