Riot Games has acknowledged the upcoming walkout on its League Championship Series (LCS) summer split.
The video game developer recently announced it is delaying the start of the LCS' summer split after professional League of Legends players overwhelmingly voted for a walkout on the event.
Players in the North American League of Legends (LOL) esports league have recently voted to walk out of the upcoming event in protest to Riot Games' announcement regarding amateur teams for the tournament's summer season.
LCS Summer Split Delay Details
Riot Games mentioned in its announcement that it is delaying the LCS summer season by two weeks from its original June 1 date, though it's not because of the upcoming walkout pro-LOL players would be doing in the upcoming competition.
According to the company's statement, the delay was for it to allegedly guarantee it would live up to the quality it promised to fans. The company reportedly decided that the competition's quality as of press time isn't good enough to meet its values and expectations that its esports offers our players and fans a showcase for the best LOL competitive scenes.
"Nothing but putting the best players in North America on the stage at Riot Games Arena is acceptable," Riot said. However, not all is lost regarding communication with the LCS Players Association and the players within it.
Riot hopes that the two weeks will be enough to create a productive dialogue between the LCSPA, teams, and the league and that it will become possible to resume the LCS' summer split. Additionally, the LCS will not penalize the teams for not fielding their rosters during these two weeks to allow everyone space to focus on a constructive dialogue regarding the necessity for the walkout.
Should the two-week window not be enough, Riot Games would be forced to cancel the entire LCS summer split as delaying the event more would make running the summer split "nearly impossible." If this happens, Riot will cancel 2023's LCS teams qualifying matches for the 2023 Worlds.
The LCSPA has yet to respond to Riot's decision to delay the LCS' summer split on its official Twitter account, per The Verge, though it asked players not to step in if recruited to replace LCS players who were walking out.
LCSPA's Concerns About Riot's Decision
The decision in question was Riot's decision to no longer require franchisees to field amateur teams to enter the LCR, which cuts off "an important development pipeline" for amateur players who want to compete in the competition.
According to a LOL esports article, Riot Games decided to nix the North American Challengers League (NACL) in favor of supporting "he continued, long-term success of the teams and the professional esports ecosystem in North America."
While the LCSPA asked Riot Games to lift its newly imposed decision to no longer require franchisees to field amateur teams to enter the LCR, saying that the company lacks commitment to the NACL, Riot Games didn't do anything to address the LCSPA and franchises' concerns, resulting in the walkout players are planning to do.
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