The players, who are represented by the LCS Players Association (LCSPA), voted to walk out following Riot Games’ announcement that LCS teams will not have an amateur group in the North American Challengers League (NACL) starting with the summer season. In the days following, many teams said they would not field NACL teams, and some cited the economic challenges of doing so. Players protested those decisions, as it cut off an important development pipeline League of Legends talent.
In a blog post, Naz Aletaha, the global head of Riot Games, said League of Legends esports, said Riot hopes the two-week delay will “give us time for productive dialogue between the LCSPA, teams and the league and then resume LCS competition this summer.” However, Aletaha said that if the season needs to be postponed further, “we are willing to cancel the entire LCS summer season.” If that happens, Aletaha said the LCS would be unable to qualify for this year’s Worlds, the global tournament that serves as the pinnacle for competitive League of Legends every year.
On Tuesday night, the LCSPA shared an update on its talks with Riot. “We met with Riot Games today to ask for daily meetings – or more, if needed – to work out a resolution,” it wrote on Twitter. “Starting tomorrow, we plan to start discussions that result in meaningful collaborative actions to get our players back to where they want to be: competing for fans on the LCS stage.” On Monday it asked players not to get in if recruited to replace LCS players who walked out.
Update May 30, 10:20 PM ET: Added tweet from the LCSPA.
