Riot Games Axes Prize Pools from Major LoL Regional Leagues in 2026

In a bold restructuring of its esports ecosystem, Riot Games has announced the elimination of prize pools from key League of Legends regional leagues starting in 2026, including LEC (EMEA), LCS (North America), LCK (South Korea), and potentially LPL (China).

The move, detailed in Riot’s Season Start 2026 update, redirects these funds to “better support the future of our sport” through strategic investments in league growth, player support, and sustainability initiatives.

Riot emphasised that regional payouts had become “comparatively small” for individual players amid rising overall investments, signaling confidence in the “maturity of the global ecosystem.”

Unaffected leagues under different partnership models include Brazil’s CBLOL and Asia-Pacific’s LCP, which will retain their prize structures.

International tournaments like First Stand, MSI, and Worlds remain untouched, with robust prize pools funded by the Global Revenue Pool (GRP) a 2024 initiative pooling digital esports revenue:

• General Shares (50%): Allocated to Tier 1 teams.
• Competitive Shares (35%): Based on regional and international performance.
• Fandom Shares (15%): Rewards for building fan engagement around players, leagues, and brands.

The decision has sparked backlash. Fans questioned the competitive drive without cash incentives:”????? what’s the point of competing with no prize money?? … taking that away will just makes things less competitive imo”

Gen.G CEO Arnold Hur, whose org has dominated LCK and MSI but chased Worlds glory unsuccessfully, voiced sharp criticism: “Unfortunate to see prize pools being removed from LCK. As publishers push esports toward profitability, some will focus on creating new revenue streams, others on cutting costs. Teams will live or die by whether they can predict which cycle they are in.”

Hur praised Riot’s sustainability efforts like Split Format Reforms (SFR) but urged more team autonomy: “All we want is more freedom to monetize.”

This comes amid turmoil, with storied org Royal Never Give Up (RNG) recently exiting LoL esports due to financial woes.

Daniel Davis

Since: October 29, 2025

Hi, I’m Dan, an experienced esports journalist and author passionate about competitive gaming and digital culture. I specialize in titles like Counter Strike, Call of Duty, League of Legends, and Valorant. I’ve documented the rise of professional esports from local tournaments to global stages. With a sharp focus on player strategy, team chemistry, and the evolving industry landscape, I deliver in depth insight into the world’s most popular competitive games.

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