UPDATED: League Of Legends Pros Stage Walk Out In Response To Recent Riot Announcement

In today’s episode of “Big Company Makes Unilateral Decision That Makes People Unhappy Enough To Walk Out”, we bring news that pro League of Legends players in the LCS are striking in response to a recent announcement from Riot Games. The LCS Players Association (LCSPA) announced yesterday via Twitter that they had voted “overwhelmingly” to walk out over “actions… taken by Riot without prior communication or discussion with the LCS players."

For those wondering, the action in question was an announcement on Riot's part that the franchised teams of the LCS no longer need to support a team for the North American Challengers League (NACL) if they choose not to. According to a post on Dual Shockers, seven of the ten teams in the LCS have chosen to drop their academy teams. The only pro teams not doing so are Evil Geniuses, FlyQuest, and Team Liquid. What this decision can result in for the NACL teams no longer supported by an LCS team is the potential loss of employment for team members and support staff.

According to a follow-up statement, the LCS took issue with Riot taking this action without discussing it with the players first. The organization is asking Riot for several things of Riot as part of their walkout. It includes things like Riot committing to a revenue pool for player salaries of $300k per NACL team per year. They also want the LCS to be able to partner with affiliates to share costs and minimum contracts for the players who win the LCS summer finals every year, among other things.

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— LCS Players Association (@NALCSPA) May 29, 2023

UPDATE 5/30/2023: The LCS Players Association has issued a Twitter statement discouraging teams from "scabbing" players to start the season to fill potential roster slots vacated by the player walkout. The LCSPA says that players contacted to do so should refrain from playing as it diminishes the players' power over the situation and hurts all players, pro or otherwise:

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— LCS Players Association (@NALCSPA) May 29, 2023