The League Championship Series (LCS) has been North America’s premiere League of Legends Esports organization since 2013. Riot Games, the developer behind League of Legends, has been cultivating the games competitive scene since its first World Championship in 2011, and the LCS has been an important part of that journey.
In more recent history, however, doom-speak has been permeating the LCS. Worries have been rising that Riot is moving on from their game to Valorant – the trendier, newer game that is way too cool for the practically ancient League of Legends community.
However, with the LCS 2024 Spring season, a new era of League of Legends could be upon us – and it all points back to one man.
MarkZ: A new commissioner with a new vision
On December 12th, 2023, the LCS announced that Mark Zimmerman, long time competitive League of Legends community member, better known as Markz, was to become their new Commissioner– in short, Markz now runs the whole operation.
Now, make no mistake. In the LCS’ current state, the job of Commissioner could be considered more of a burden than an honor.
After a historically terrible season in 2023 – a decline in viewership that signaled an inability to retain the affluence that came from the pandemic, the loss of two of its formerly ten franchises due to financial instability, and a near cancelation of the Summer split after a misguided attempt to support said franchises which led to a player walkout– the future of the Championship Series seemed anything but bright.
With growing skepticism from investors about whether all the hype around Esports can actually translate into long term financial success, Riot has a lot to prove, and MarkZ has a lot of eyes on him.
But despite the pressure, the newly appointed commissioner is eager to prove himself.
Since his hiring, Zimmerman has been promising fans a reimagined league, publicly promoting some exciting changes to the leagues format in what seems to be an effort to throw new ideas at the wall, and see what sticks.
While the LCS may be on thin ice with its audience after the 2023 season, Zimmerman is not afraid to keep skating, and make bold strokes for the league’s future. The weekend of January 20th was the first trial run of these changes, and his new vision.
Opening week: Welcome to the new LCS
No good remodelling is complete without a new coat of paint, and the changes to LCS’ brand were some of the first of the changes shown off.
Aesthetically, the LCS has gotten rid of the purple coloring that had been synonymous with its brand for the past couple of years, and moved to a more minimalist black and white scheme, in what league officials say is part of their initiative to leave room for the personalities of teams and their players.
Even looking at the LCS 2024 Spring Split Promotional video– which shows zero League of Legends footage, instead focusing on the real-life stories and rivalries that make the tournament interesting on a personal level – this new emphasis on player narratives shines through.
This new look for the league, along with sponsorships from recognizable corporations like KIA and RedBull, make it seem more professional than ever. This is key in an industry like Esports, which has historically struggled with legitimacy in the public eye.
But more than just the LCS’ image, there were also a number of changes made to the event itself.
For one, the LCS 2024 Winter Split is the first season to run on a live patch system, meaning that as soon as Riot publishes a new patch for the game, the pros will be playing on it for their matches.
There were also changes made to the way days are scheduled, in order to mitigate downtime between matches.
While you could make a case for or against these changes, it is too early in the season to decisively measure their impact.
Zimmerman has continually made it clear that his goal with the league is to continually experiment with new features, and slowly gain a sense for what sticks with the community.
It is possible that next year the LCS will go back to a static patch approach, as much as it is possible that in ten years, the LCS community might not be able to remember a time before live patch. Only time will tell what resonates.
However, one has to wonder how much more “time” Riot can afford to give Zimmerman.
The Ticking Clock - if it even exists
Looking at raw hours of viewership, LCS 2024′s first week fared worse than 2023′s, showing that this methodical experimentation of the league’s format does not translate to instant success.
Between the loss of programming hours due to two fewer teams to broadcast, the fact that the LCS winter split historically pulls in less viewers than the summer split, and many other factors, it seems it is gonna be a while before Riot sees any profit from their premiere NA league. Yet, Riot shows no sign of cutting off the LCS any time soon.
Just to reiterate – the LCS does not make money for Riot. It never has. What it has done however is foster a community of passionate League of Legends fans, and helped cement Riot’s place in the competitive gaming world.
Both Zimmerman and higher ups at Riot proper are publicly adamant that Esports as a medium is in its infancy. For them, what we are seeing now is not the end of a short lived fad, but the growing pains of what will one day be an institutional juggernaut just like “real” sports.
From this perspective it makes perfect sense that Riot would spare no expense in innovating and refining the science that is Esports, establishing themselves as the juggernaut in an industry that they see as destined to take off.
Now, whether or not this plan actually comes to fruition is yet to be determined, but if it does, the LCS, one of Riot’s biggest deficit makers, might just become their greatest asset.