The LCSPA vs Riot Games controversy explained: Background and reasons for the "walkout" and the implications for NA League of Legends

The League of Legends esports world has been taken by storm following the League of Legends Championship Series Player Assocation's (LCSPA) declaration of a mass walkout just three days before the LCS Summer Split 2023 begins. The LCSPA has been an organization within the LCS ecosystem for a couple of years and has not had a significant impact until the recent decisions made by Riot Games and the organizations in the LCS.

The LCSPA's revolutionary decision could prompt the beginning of the revival of the North American League of Legends ecosystem amidst its troublesome times. This article will go over the crux of the issue along with the motives for the walkout and its potential implications and effectiveness for the LCS.

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The LCSPA will initiate a walkout before the League of Legends LCS 2023 Summer Split

Background of the issue

The League of Legends Championship Series Player Association (LCSPA) was rebooted in 2021 to maintain the integrity of the players participating in the LCS and North American Challengers League (NACL). It includes existing LCS players such as Philippe "Vulcan" LaFlamme and Jo "CoreJJ" Yong-jin. The association is committed to improving the lives and well-being of the players participating in the LCS and the NACL and providing them opportunities to make it big in the esports industry.

Recently, the NACL saw seven out of the ten organizations participating in the LCS withdrawing their involvement in the academy leagues soon after Riot Games announced that LCS teams would not be obliged to field academy lineups. This came as terrible news for the North American League of Legends ecosystem as it put a lot of players' careers in the academy league at a big risk. Despite being provided a $3 million budget by Riot Games, the LCS teams could not have enough funds to sustain their academy teams.

This led to the LCSPA responding to the issue and slamming Riot Games and the LCS organizations for their poor decision-making concerning the NACL and the lack of attention the academy leagues have received.

The LCSPA further proposed certain initiatives for Riot to undertake to improve the NACL and LCS, which included requests such as a "Valorant style" promotion and relegation system between the LCS and NACL to promote competition and develop young talents for the future of North American League of Legends. These were completely ignored by Riot, which led to a decision where a walkout vote was held on 28 May, 2023.

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The "walkout" explained

Riot Games' lack of response over a serious issue harming the growth of the North American League of Legends prompted the LCSPA to conduct the walkout vote. The result of the vote was announced on 29 May. It was declared as being 'overwhelmingly passed,' which meant that the players involved in the association would not play for their respective teams when the League of Legends LCS Summer Split starts on 1 June, 2023.

This decision was met with widespread positivity by the League of Legends community. Fans worldwide applauded the bravery and initiative that the LCSPA took to stand against Riot's decisions which have led to the careers of academy players being put at risk. Riot is yet to respond to this situation, and the future of the LCS is hanging in the air after this historic moment.

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Implications for the LCS

The LCS has been marred with controversy over the past few weeks. Long standing organizations such as CLG have exited the league, while TSM plans to leave after the conclusion of the Summer Split. This has the potential to impact the viewership of the league in a negative manner.

The walkout vote being passed also puts the start of the Summer Split in jeopardy. The timing of the vote being passed almost aligns with the start date of the Summer Split. There has been no word from the side of the LCS and Riot Games so far.

The walkout could potentially prompt Riot Games to postpone the start of the Summer Split to deal with the present issues.

Overall, the LCS is in pretty bad shape and has had a lot of negative attention recently. It has constantly been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, and it is a worrisome trend for the future of the North American League of Legends.

The LCSPA's walkout has the potential to be the first step in the betterment and rebuilding of the foundations of the LCS as the academy leagues are one of the best ways for future talents to come up and bolster the series.