Riot Games shuts down the Oceanic Pro League
Riot Games has announced that the Oceanic Pro League (OPL) and Riot’s Sydney office will be shutting down.
The OPL started five years ago with a goal to build a competitive and sustainable league to drive both commercial growth and fan engagement in the region. Sadly, the OPL never turned into the league that Riot had hoped for and will now be shutting down after not meeting its goals.
An update about the future of the Oceanic Pro League (OPL) - https://t.co/K5t271nP9R pic.twitter.com/sT9VRyKDnZ
— Oceanic Pro League (@OPL) October 7, 2020
“Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of our teams and players, the OPL has not met our goals for the league,” Riot Games said in its statement. “We do not believe that the market is currently able to support the league in its current form,”.
Not the end for the OCE region in LoL
While the biggest league in the Oceanic region is closing, Riot will continue to support the pro players of the region. Teams such as Legacy Esports, ORDER, Dire Wolves, and others are now without a league to play in, but the players may now get a chance in the LCS.
Riot will be removing the import rule for all Oceanic players in the LCS, which means that they will no longer take up an import slot. LCS rosters can currently only have two imported players on the roster, so this opens up for new opportunities in 2021.
Players including Golden Guardian’s Ian “FBI” Huang and Tommy “Ryoma” Le have already been given the chance in the LCS. FBI especially has been performing well throughout 2020 and has proven that a player from the Oceanic region can succeed in North America. 2021 might be the year where even more Oceanic players will enter the North American league.
It’s fair to assume that only the absolute best players from the OPL will get a chance in the LCS, but the rest will still have something to fight for. Riot assures that they will be hosting qualifying tournaments in OCE for both the World Championship and Mid-Season Invitational in 2021, to make sure that the region is still represented on the international stage.
All 10 LCS teams reportedly want to remove the import rule
CLG and Dignitas players test positive for virus ahead of 2021 LCS
Lack of NA amateur development blamed for poor Worlds performance
AnDa and 5fire join EG Academy amid struggles to secure visas
Riot Games looking to fix high-level LoL matchmaking troubles
Valorant Act 3 will include new winter-themed map Icebox
Blizzard closing down French office despite strong profits
All the key points and features in Valorant's new map Icebox
mousesports releases Rejin after admission to CSGO cheating
What is ability haste in League of Legends and how does it work?
TSM is still without wins at Worlds 2020 and it may stay that way
Fnatic hands Gen.G first loss at Worlds 2020, exploits weaknesses
FlyQuest needs upset at Worlds 2020 to advance from groups
Suning and G2 in first, Team Liquid has a chance to advance in Worlds 2020
Team Liquid breaks G2 Esports undefeated record in Worlds 2020
Dota 2 pros discuss facing death threats for losing games
Riot plans competitive matchmaking changes for Valorant Act 3
Xyp9x returns to Astralis practices, return date announced
North America has no sponsored Dota 2 teams after CR4ZY release