Chang Lao's Blog

The world of esports is slowly taking over the globe, one player at a time. What started out as a MOBA (massive online battle area) game has transformed into a franchise with 67 million unique players every month.

Logo of Riot Games.

At the top of the tier are the professional players, esports athletes, that compete in tournaments with prize pools of ~2 million dollars (another game, DOTA, has had a prize pool of ~11 million). This is a business where the players, or workers in this case, sign contracts with Riot, the owners of League of Legends, and their respective teams. However, players are often younger and, since the professional gaming business is fairly new, they are susceptible to unfair contracts.

Riot has the ability to change the game at will. This is not like the average sport, where rules are set and rarely changed. This company has complete control of the playing field  as the entire sport is under their jurisdiction: patents, copyrights, trademark, and more. Workers (players) sign contracts that limit their rights, they have no union protections and few bargaining rights.

Season 3 League of Legends World Championships in Staples Center, Los Angeles.

Forbes has reported that League of Legends may become a new Olympic sport as early as 2020, making is a promising career for aspiring gamers. On the other hand, these gamers will become a source of cheap labor as they are unprotected and restrained by Riot’s contracts.