Riot opens LoL events to high schools in North America

Riot Games has updated its community guidelines for high schools, moving away from the exclusive deal with the North American esports tournament platform PlayVS. The new, ‘non-exclusive high school model’ allows high schools and third party organizers across North America to host season-long scholastic League of Legends tournaments. 

In the official announcement posted yesterday, June 8, Riot Games encouraged schools to invest in support of gaming communities. According to the release, the move is a part of the publisher’s goal to widen the high school League of Legends ecosystem and provide organizers with more opportunities to get involved.

The only limitation set by Riot is that schools can host competitions only against other schools within the same state or province and that these events cannot claim to crown a national champion. The statement reads: 

“After significant discussion, we’ve determined that the best way to set up high school esports for success is to further open, rather than narrow, avenues for competition and organic growth. Going forward, our priority with high school esports is to create more opportunities for schools and players to decide how, when, and where they want to compete. By actively listening to their needs, Riot and the RSAA will find ways to support them where it matters most.”

Who is PlayVS?

While Riot didn’t mention PlayVS in its announcement, the publisher’s decision follows the wave of criticism against the organizer in recent months. PlayVS came under fire for its lack of transparency as well as for monopolizing scholastic esports and unsatisfactory business practices. The backlash came from among teachers and educators, who argue that such restricting licensing gates competitive opportunities for students. Furthermore, the company has been sued by a former employee for pregnancy discrimination and wrongful termination of employment, as reported in April by The Jacob Wolf Report. 

Founded in 2018, PlayVS markets itself as a “turnkey” platform for schools looking to get into scholastic esports. In 2018, the organization signed a deal with the National Federation of State High School Associations — the governing body for sports at the high school level. By signing the contract, PlayVS became the be the association’s platform for scholastic esports competitions. However, according to a report by The Washington Post, schools can work with any tournament organizers of their choice for their competitions, as the NFHS is just an advocate for PlayVS. 

Since 2020, PlayVS served as the exclusive platform for scholastic competitions in Riot’s titles across North America. The agreement prevented other organisers or platforms, including non-profit scholastic institutions, from hosting official scholastic esports events. As a result, those schools and organizers that held events without using the PlayVS platform had to face severe restrictions.

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