In the North American League of Legends scene, the last few days have been full of tension and uncertainty. The professional players have decided to go on strike after the decisions made about the NACL.
Due to the players’ strike, the start of the league was very uncertain; Riot’s first move in the face of the strike was to allow teams to make emergency signings. However, this measure has not gone as expected; instead, all athletes in the league have shown solidarity with their teammates. As a result, Riot has been forced to postpone the start of the Summer Split.
The start of the LCS Summer Split postponed
The delayed start of the season marks a turning point for the LoL competitive scene and for esports in general. It is the first significant act of collective action in the fight for the greater good.
Global Head of League Esports, Naz Aletaha, has spoken about Riot Games’ decision to postpone the start of the season. Aletaha comments that postponing the season’s start for more than two weeks would bring strong consequences for all the teams in the league.
On the other hand, he says that the league organizers would be willing to cancel the entire season if it does not start in two weeks. However, Aletaha assures that a competitive season could not be held after that time.
If the league is suspended, the LCS teams will be left out of the 2023 Worlds. At the same time, Aletaha states that the league organizers do not want to go to that point; however, if it is necessary to make that decision, they will do so as they need to maintain a competitive, but above all fair, international system.
Recall that the LCS Players Association prompted the decision to call a strike after league officials removed the mandatory requirement for all teams to maintain their tier-two rosters.
An Update on the 2023 LCS Summer Split
Read: https://t.co/v4wniVaLjm pic.twitter.com/IGgALOlSRJ
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) May 30, 2023
Players’ strike in the North American LoL league
On May 28th, a vote was held to decide whether or not to go on strike in protest of the decision made by Riot Games. A total of 50 players representing all the teams participated in the vote; the result was massively approved.
Due to this strike vote, the start of the summer season of the North American league was affected, as none of the teams competing in the LCS could set their lineups before the season’s scheduled start.
As mentioned, Riot Games tried to keep the league start date on schedule. Among those measures was eliminating the player rank requirement, allowing teams to sign any player.
According to some rumors, the organizations that are part of the LCS also contacted some college teams to try to sign players. However, the support among all the players meant that no one accepted the offer to play in the league.
For now, all LoL and LCS fans must wait to find out if Riot Games and the LCSPA finally come to an agreement that benefits the parties involved.