Riot Games announces new policy limiting foreign teams in League Championship Series
Riot Games made an announcement late last night regarding a new policy that will prevent any team from moving to a foreign country to compete in a Riot-sanctioned professional league. This decision has disrupted the plans of several Korean players who were hoping to participate in the North American and European League Championship Series, according to sources familiar with the Korean esports scene.
Players Hong “Madlife” Min-gi, Park “Shy” Sang-myeon, and Ryu “Ryu” Sang-ook had intentions of forming a team and relocating to Los Angeles in December, then competing in the challenger series beginning in January. Hong and Park are currently contracted with the CJ organization until January, but their veteran status would have allowed them to leave the team if they chose to, as per insider information.
Riot’s new rule, known as the Global Interregional Movement Policy, now prevents this move from happening. The rule states that three players on the team roster must be considered “residents” in order to compete. Riot plans to release more details regarding the residency requirements next week.
This new rule affects not only Hong and Park, but also the Samsung organization, who had plans to bring a new team called Samsung Red to Europe, sources reveal.
The purpose of this rule is to prevent an influx of foreign teams dominating domestic leagues. Korea and China are recognized for having strong leagues with teams that could potentially outperform North American or European squads. In fact, the Chinese team LMQ qualified for the LCS this summer, eventually representing North America in Riot’s World Championships. It’s important to note that current rosters will not be affected by this new rule.
This decision comes shortly after Blizzard announced a similar policy for its World Championship Series in StarCraft, where Korean players had gradually occupied the North American and European regions, making it difficult for local talent to thrive. Blizzard’s implementation of a “region locking” rule aims to create a better representation of local talent in each region, even if it lowers the overall skill level of the top competitors.
In the case of League of Legends, Riot’s decision to limit foreign-born players is a strategic move to strengthen weaker leagues and prevent regional imbalances from arising.
Riot Games, League Championship Series, Korean players, residency requirements, Samsung Red, foreign teams, domestic leagues, LMQ, Blizzard, StarCraft, region locking, local talent, regional imbalance, esports