The North American League of Legends competitive scene has been in a whirlwind of controversy ever since Riot Games announced changes to the LCS format for the upcoming 2023 Spring Split.
Before the start of the 2023 Spring Split, president of esports John Needham and global esports head Naz Aletaha did an interview with Travis Gafford to ensure fans that the company is still all-in with the LCS, saying that Riot never planned to step back or lessen support for the league in any way.
Needham also revealed that the LCS is No. 2 in Riot’s esports ecosystem when it comes to revenue, on top of being one of the oldest leagues in League esports. There is, however, a significant divide since the LCS is No. 4—or five, on some weekends—in terms of viewership. As a result, the team is investing a lot more into the league to help the region keep up with its siblings around the world.
“If there’s one thing I don’t want our fans to doubt, we are so committed to the LCS [and] we are so passionate about the league,” Needham said. “It hurts us when we see our fans not believing that, because that is not the intent.”
Related: Riot implements highly-requested changes to LCS broadcast times ahead of 2023 Spring Split
Aletaha confirmed that there were no budget cuts for the LCS heading into 2023, even though some people began to suspect these changes were happening behind the scenes. She also said that year after year, the League esports budget is flat and does not change. She said there will be two major roadshows this year, the studio has been revamped, and investments in content creation and publishing are also as high as ever.
They did admit that there were some pitfalls and inconsistencies when it came to communicating with fans. But, moving forward, Riot will be focusing on maintaining the clearest communication that it can provide in terms of game and competitive updates.
