This strategic move is announced with the intent to support the long-term financial stability and competitive balance of the high-stakes League of Legends esports championship.

The move is in-line with many sports leagues around the globe, which have introduced salary caps to stop powerful or rich clubs from dominating the league. It essentially means teams with a rich backer or many sponsors does not just buy up all the LoL talent.

The impending 2024 League of Legends (LoL) esports season will witness the inception of Sporting Financial Regulations (SFR). These newly-minted financial rules are designed to encourage teams to keep the cumulative salaries of their top five highest-paid players beneath a specified annual threshold. Should teams overshoot this financial benchmark, they will be subjected to an additional fee (known as the SFR Fee).

Notably, a portion of this fee is allocated to support the tier 2 League of Legends esports ecosystem. The specifics of how these funds will bolster tier 2 remain unclear, with further clarification pending from Riot Games.

According to Alejandro ��anonimotum�� Gomis, who initially disclosed the news via Blix, the LEC salary cap is projected to be approximately �2 million. This amount is not static, with reports indicating that the cap will undergo annual adjustments.

Through a post on the official LoL esports website, the LEC outlined its vision behind the introduction of the SFR. The overarching goal is to cultivate a financial landscape that is not only sustainable but also conducive to the steady and scalable growth of professional players, partnered teams, and the league as a whole. This structured approach is expected to shield the LEC ecosystem from the perils of unsustainable expenditure.

��In addition, the framework will support the league by creating a better competitive balance and more engaging competition, further enhancing the experience for players and fans,” Director of League of Legends Esports, EMEA, Maximilian Peter Schmidt said.

��In the current economic climate, we are dedicated more than ever to creating a sustainable future for our players, teams, and the LoL Esports ecosystem in EMEA as a whole.

��The LEC SFR, which will come into effect from the beginning of the 2024 Season, is one way in which we��re continuing to work towards our goal of long-term financial sustainability.��

Schmidt further emphasized that this initiative is expected to prompt teams to adopt sustainable business practices, thereby offering players job security and serving the league’s fanbase for the foreseeable future.

��By doing this, we aim to encourage teams to operate more sustainable businesses to provide job security for players and ensure we serve our fans for decades to come,” he said.

The LEC’s decision to implement the salary cap comes as the Overwatch League battles financials troubles, while several other popular esports games have had to look at their business models and consider changes.

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“The VCT EMEA International League will kick off in March at the Messe Berlin Charlottenburg,” the organization said.

“We are building a studio for fans – a place to witness the best clutches, the highs of victory, and the lows of defeat alongside each other.”

The new studio at the Messe Berlin Charlottenburg will serve as the home for the 10 teams competing in the EMEA region. This marks a significant step for the growth of VALORANT esports in the region, providing a dedicated space for top-level competition.

The 2023 VCT EMEA season is shaping up to be one of the biggest events in the game’s history, with top teams from across the region competing for a spot in the global finals. The studio is expected to provide a state-of-the-art environment for players and fans alike, further cementing VALORANT’s place as a top esports title.

The new Berlin studio will serve as the hub for all VCT EMEA activities, including the Masters, Challengers, Last Chance Qualifier, and Champions events. The state-of-the-art facility will also provide a space for player training and development, as well as a venue for spectators to watch the action live.

Riot Games has stated that the new Berlin studio is part of its vision to support and grow the VALORANT esports scene in EMEA. The company plans to invest heavily in the region, with a focus on providing more opportunities for aspiring professional players and teams to compete at the highest levels.

The studio is said to be located across town from Riot Games’ Berlin headquarters and the League of Legends European Championship (LEC) studio. With the LEC and VCT EMEA scheduled at similar dates and times, both tournaments cannot share the same venue. The new studio also offers the organization the opportunity to create its own style and feel, different from LoL, as it has always wanted to with its event and stages.

In addition to the new studio in Berlin, Riot will also be expanding its support for grassroots VALORANT esports in the EMEA region. This includes providing more support for amateur and semi-professional teams, as well as increasing the number of regional tournaments and events.

The news comes as part of Riot’s vision for the 2023 VCT season, which will feature a revamped format and new rules. The Masters events will now be split into two tiers, with the top eight teams from each region competing in the upper tier and the remaining teams competing in the lower tier. This will provide more opportunities for teams to compete at the highest level and allow for more diverse representation.

The cream of the crop from the Masters leagues will be moving on to the next round of competition, where they will face off in a modified double-elimination bracket. The top teams from the VCT EMEA playoffs will have the opportunity to shine on the Masters stage in June, before battling it out in the Last Chance Qualifier in July and ultimately vying for victory at the Champions event in August.

In the meantime, the Challengers will be hot on their heels, following the same schedule and culminating in the Ascension tournament in July. One lucky team will earn a coveted two-year promotion to the VCT EMEA the following year.

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According to the release, the inaugural edition of the competition will be exclusive to players from the EMEA region. However, there are already plans to expand to the North America region in season two, which is scheduled to be held in February 2023.?

Speaking about the reason for Realm’s journey into Apex Legends, CEO Eric Faust spoke on the inclusiveness the competition offers all players.?

��Right now, esports is essentially focused on the top .01% of players,�� he said.? ?

��Players of lower skill levels don��t get a chance to experience competitive tournaments or places where they can compete to improve their skill.

?��We want to change that. The biggest prizes will still be awarded at the pro level, but there will be multiple other tiers for players of different skill levels to compete in.

“Aspiring players will also get the chance to continually level up to get to those upper echelons through Realm��s rating system. Imagine a ranked service where instead of earning badges, you��re competing for cash.��? ?

The Realm platform is said to have been built on the Hedera public distributed ledger. The platform leverages Hedera Consensus Service (HCS) to maintain events and keep them unchanged over time.

The platform is aimed at empowering aspiring professional players and giving them a path to success.? ?It collects a wide range of data and offers verifiable, deep data insights on every match players partake in.

This enables teams and coaches to access information about a player’s skillset and in-game performance.? ?The platform is entirely queryable, as fans and enthusiasts can use it to create bespoke statistical models.

It also offers registered players the power to either make their esports data private to prevent it from being accessed by the public, or make it public on their profile.?

?The Chief Executive Officer of the HBAR Foundation (which drives the Hedera ecosystem), Shayne Higdon, spoke on Realm and its entry into Apex Legends.? ?

“Hedera makes it possible, for the first time, for players to demonstrate, verify, and share at their choosing their gaming accomplishments,” he said.?

?”Realm’s new offering for EA’s Apex Legends is the beginning of a transformation. Running on the Hedera public ledger will enable gamers to showcase, verify, and capitalize on their skills as never before.��?

?Realm prides itself on being one of the first platforms to offer opportunities to pro and semi-pro players alike, granting them access to engage in a competitive experience. For players competing in games on the platform, it has a player rating system that aids in the matching of opponents by showing players of the same skill level.?

?The rating system allows players to advance gradually into much higher tiers of the competition. This affords them the opportunity to go up with, and against, some of the best players in their respective regions.?

?There is a ranked division at the end of each season, in which players are placed using their rating. Thereafter, they will compete in a tournament setting to earn some part of the prize.? ?

While Realm is not a tournament, as it allows players to play at any time in private competitive games, players cannot access it during the Apex Legends Global Series (ALGS). The platform is modeled after a similar system used by the ESEA in Counter-Strike.

Apex Legends esports has enjoyed continuous growth of late. The battle royale in recent weeks joined the ESL Premiership tournament roster and also Canada��s TELUS Esports Series.

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