For those of you who haven’t heard the LCSPA staged a walkout from all the pro players on LCS Rosters for Week 1 of the LCS until their demands are met. Riot first responded by saying teams could field essentially anyone on their rosters for Week 1 before realizing no one from the collegiate or amateur scene was willing to cross that picket line.
After that realization, Riot released a statement today pushing back the start of the LCS season by 2 weeks with the threat of simply canceling it altogether. The claims of “goal of getting to a positive outcome” and “First and foremost, we support player” are quickly followed up by saying they’re willing to end the season before it even starts.
Riot then goes on to simply say no to 4 of the 5 things the LCSPA walkout is asking for even with it being clear many of the listed things there are to get everyone to the table. If Riot truly has the “goal of getting to a positive outcome” I would assume these next 2 weeks will be filled with much more actual conversation with the LCSPA walkout crew.
Obviously, everyone knows the LCS is a business and needs to make money. However, the decision to completely change the layout for your development league with essentially no heads-up to the players who are directly involved is just wrong. It’s up to you to pick a side but either way, the way this has gone so far does not give me any hope for the future of the LCS.