League of Legends players vote ‘overwhelmingly’ to walkout

players in north america League of Legends Esports leagues have voted to pull out in protest of Riot Games’ decision not to require franchises to field an amateur team. Since Riot’s announcement, several franchises have already abandoned their amateur teams for the summer season, cutting off a vital development pipeline for players seeking to compete in the major League Championship Series (LCS). vote organized by the LCSPA, which represents the North American League of Legends Exports players, “Heavy,” According to Monday’s early tweet,

It is unclear when the walkout will take place, but assuming the two sides do not come to some sort of agreement, it is likely to happen at the start of the summer season (also known as the “summer split”). on june 1st,

There has been tension on this issue for some time. On May 12, Riot Games announced that the franchise had asked this to drop the mandate requiring it to field teams in the amateur league, the North American Challengers League (NACL), and it would drop that mandate. In same day statementPlayers pushed for some sort of structured amateur competition, noting that “more than 50 percent of current LCS professionals came through the NACL/academy system” and that Europe, China, and Korea maintain competitive developmental leagues.

Federation The players have expressed their dismay over Riot’s decision of not fielding NACL teams from the franchises. “I wouldn’t be in the (LCS) were it not for the academy,” said Palafox, a player on NRG’s LCS team. wrote on twitter, “The Academy/NACL system gave me the opportunity to pursue a pro career,” Tweeted Chim, a player for TSM.

However, in the days following Riot’s announcement, five of the ten LCS teams stated that they would not participate in the NACL this summer (100 thieves, cloud 9, dignitas, golden guardAnd nrg), and the LCSPA tweeted that two more would not have NACL teams, either (tsm And Immortal, Many North American e-sports organizations have been struggling as of late – TSM announced it would Leaving LCS for another regionnrg recently acquired Counter Logic GamingAnd 100 Thieves laid off staff in January — and some statements from the franchise noted the challenging economics of being an amateur team.

On Tuesday, journalist Mikhail Klimentov reported that players would vote on walkout, an LCSPA list riot games demand Features include a system of promotion and relegation between the LCS and NACL, a revenue pool for NACL salaries, and guaranteed contracts for one year for LCS players who win the Summer Finals. On Monday, the LCSPA told the players don’t cross the walkout line If recruited by a team to play as a replacement.

Riot Games and the LCSPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.