League of Legends players taking part in the UKLC UK and Ireland tournament are getting greater recognition, as Riot Games announces some updates to four of its European Regional Leagues (ERLs).
Players in these ERLs without any red flags will gain access to a new ERL Player Benefits Program. This will unlock all purchasable in-game content on one of their accounts on the live server.
From this November, players who pass behaviour checks will also be recognised and registered in the Global Contract Database, to coincide with the Free Agency period.
This will offer them the same level of poaching and tampering protections that players in the higher-tier LEC receive, as well as providing the community with an overview of each player.
“This is to ensure that ERL teams have bigger incentives to scout and invest in talent themselves without running the risk of that talent getting immediately snatched away from them,” Riot said in the post.
“In order to be registered in the Global Contract Database, all ERL players will have to pass behaviour checks and we are streamlining the process around that by setting clear standards and penalties across the four ERLs.”
RIOT GAMES
Riot revealed the news in a post on the Lolesports website about the evolution of the European League of Legends esports ecosystem.
The updates affect players in the UKLC in the UK and Ireland, as well as the Premier Tour in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the LFL in France and the Superliga Orange in Spain.
Riot is also making changes to player contract requirements to bolster player protection. For example, it is limiting the time contracts are recognised in the Global Contract Database to a maximum of two years, and requiring all players to be contracted to the organisations that have to register with their respective ERL.
Contract terms will also be vetted by Riot across the four ERLs.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
Nice! It’s great to see this kind of development and investment in leagues like the UKLC. It’s very encouraging to see Riot invest time into this and it will surely have a positive impact on both the league and the players.