The League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) announced Monday that it will narrow down the number of participating teams in the North American league dedicated to League of Legends competition from its current number of 10 to eight in 2024.
In addition, it announced that Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians would be the two teams that will be exiting the league at the end of this year.
The announcement was made on Monday by Riot Games President of Esports John Needham:
LCS 2024 Update – John Needham pic.twitter.com/CmnMmTfgxN
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) November 20, 2023
By all accounts these exits were mutually agreed upon, as far as we know right now.
Evil Geniuses also announced publicly its exits from the LCS:
Evil Geniuses will be stepping away from the LCS heading into 2024.
We are incredibly grateful to the players, coaches, staff, and fans who have sustained our four-season tenure in the LCS and who have brought incredible success to the EG name.
While we will not be competing… https://t.co/CpL6mhqVvZ
— Evil Geniuses (@EvilGeniuses) November 20, 2023
Finally, Golden Guardians issued the following statement via social media on Monday:
The Golden Guardians have had an incredible experience in the LCS over the last five years. However, given Riot Games decision to shift the LCS from a 10-team league to an 8-team league, we have made the difficult decision to exit League of Legends.
We are so grateful for the…
— Golden Guardians (@GoldenGuardians) November 20, 2023
Details on if LCS/Riot compensated these organizations in any way related to their franchise slots were not disclosed, as of this writing.
This is a developing story…
