Two weeks ago It looked like League of Legends The North American season was in turmoil when the players’ union called a strike over Riot’s plan to make cuts in the North American Challenger’s League, and Riot responded by suspending the entire LCS. However, after negotiations between the LCS Players Association and Riot, this strike is called off and the games take place again.
On May 29, the LCSPA called a strike — members voted “overwhelmingly” to do so — and made five key demands on Riot, whose plans to scrap the NACL were threatening dozens of jobs. Those demands included minimum contracts for LCS Summer Finals winners, a $300,000 salary pool for NACL teams, promotion and relegation between LCS and NACL, a “roster continuity rule” for NACL teams, and provisions governing LCS organizations enable paid collaboration with partner teams -Share.
After a week of negotiations between Riot and the LCSPA, an agreement was reached with the developers today announces the following compromise terms:
– A new NACL business model, in addition to the previously pledged $300,000, where revenue will be shared between the tournament operator and participating teams to drive long-term sustainability
– Improvements to the NACL governance model, including a Team Participating Agreement (TPA) and a review process of participating team organizations
– Minimum 30-day notice and severance payment for players earning up to 1.5 times league minimum wage and minimum two-week notice for non-resident LCS players (exceeding terms may be negotiated by players and teams)
– Established a working group between teams and the LCSPA to better optimize scrim schedules
– Tightened health insurance requirements for international LCS players upon arrival in the US
– Refine workflows between LCS, LCSPA and teams to continue discussions on improving the competitive landscape in North America
The LCSPA made their own statementby giving their own opinion on the agreed terms, while acknowledging that it is a “concession” and that “the agreements fall short of our originally stated objectives”:
The LCSPA, Riot and LCS teams have agreed to resume the 2023 LCS Summer Split on June 14th. Riot and its teams made concessions to ensure a more sustainable NACL future and a fairer voice for players in their workplace. LCS players are putting their own jobs on the line to seek shelter for our most vulnerable members and secure a future for the NA talent pipeline. Today’s announcement proves the importance of giving players a meaningful place at the table. While the agreements fall short of our initially stated goals, Riot has agreed to a number of important changes and is committed to meaningful collaboration with the LCSPA before making any future decisions.
More than 90% of LCS players voted to go on strike, which was historic – the solidarity shown by NACL, collegiate and amateur players against strikes was monumental. This unprecedented collaborative effort ultimately led to a historic response from Riot: the threat to cancel the entire LCS season.
The concessions listed below will not result in a full NACL refund, nor will they recover players who suddenly lost their jobs and faced financial difficulties, lost visas, or broken leases. The LCSPA aims to continue to explore all possible avenues to make these players more holistic. What we have achieved is a guarantee from Riot to support the new NACL format and its players going forward – increased financial support for the NACL, accountability measures to protect players working for the new operators in the NACL, and more permanent Protection for our low-income members to mitigate damage in the future.
Here is a summary of the terms we have agreed to since our strike vote:
– $300,000 for the remainder of the 2023 season to be split among the 10 NACL teams to improve player odds and pay.
– 50% of all future NACL sponsorship revenue is now shared between NACL teams.
– NACL will have a Team Participation Agreement (TPA) in 2024. This means that NACL teams must meet minimum standards in order to receive payments or royalties from Riot.
– A minimum 30-day severance pay upon termination without reason for any player earning up to 1.5 times the league minimum salary and a 15-day notice period for any player entering on a visa.
– Players and teams are represented equally in a committee to jointly determine future changes to the training plan.
– Teams will take steps to ensure all foreign players have access to required healthcare from the first day they are in the United States.
– Riot and the LCSPA will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will set out meetings and communication parameters to ensure all parties are in agreement before making future decisions and communications.
Thank you again to the LCS community here at home and abroad for supporting our players throughout this process. None of what has been accomplished today – nor the many issues we continue to fight behind the scenes – would have been possible without your voice in support of the players.
While the LCSPA is right to highlight the “monumental” nature of the voting and strike plans, which hopefully can serve as an example to other players in other games, the “historic response from Riot” – where the company threatened to cancel the entire LCS – is too right season, a move that caused some key players to waver in their support– Underlines the limitations any union will face in the esports space, where nearly every system and platform it operates on is controlled by the companies it is trying to exit. Riot had the big influence here and was obviously aware of it.
I’ve already seen both criticism and support for the compromise, but I think it’s possible that both views coexist. It’s great that the LCSPA made it through something While it’s also disappointing from Riot – understandable given the limitations I just mentioned – they didn’t get what they wanted.
