In an age of many ongoing discussions about inclusion and diversity, a popular annual tradition is starting up again after some downtime. The League of Legends 2016 summer split begins this week (and the first set of matches will be completed by the time of this article's publishing), opening to millions of fans across the world. It is no question that professional League of Legends has grown into a cultural phenomenon, and as with all such things, the issues of inclusion and diversity become important. It is an important part of life for many people involved after all. So what does the League Championship Series (LCS) look like?
Well for a start, there are five LCS leagues worldwide: the North American LCS, the European LCS, the Pro League in China, the Champions Korea league, and the League Masters Series of Taiwan. For our purposes as American readers, since America is often named as an especially diverse nation, how does the North American LCS reflect that idea?
It probably comes as no surprise that the majority of players in North America's professional League scene are from the United States. The LCS is a dynamic community though; teams in every league are constantly "importing" and "exporting" players from other regions to bolster their rosters and improve their records. This results in many international superstars often making their way to the proverbial land of opportunity; the 2015 season saw former world champion players Chae Gwang-jin, known in-game as "Piglet," and Jung "Impact" Eon-yeong from South Korea move to American teams. European players Henrik "Froggen" Hansen from Denmark and Aleš "Freeze" Kněžínek of the Czech Republic made appearances in early 2016, as well as French icon Bora "YellOwStaR" Kim (Freeze and YellOwStaR have since returned to Europe). Danish player Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg, widely lauded as one of the best players in North America, has played here for almost three years since his move.
These are only a few of the international pros who play in America for American teams every year. If its openness to foreign players is any indication, the NA LCS seems to welcome difference. Of course this is a competitive game, and these exchanges are more about winning matches than anything else. But the fact that the players are judged first as professionals by their skills and not by their skin or passports can be encouraging in such a racially-charged society as we live in.
You have guessed correctly, by the way; more of the pro players in NA are white or Korean than are not. This holds up across the league, and on most of the teams. The most diverse roster in the region currently is probably Counter Logic Gaming (CLG), one of the oldest big-time teams in NA:
Their 2016 roster, as pictured, contains the sole African-American starting player in the region Zaqueri "Aphromoo" Black (far right). It also features Canadian-Indian player Darshan Upadhyahya (far left), Jake "Xmithie" Puchero (near left) of the Philippines, and French-Korean player Choi "Huhi" Jae-hyun (middle). The team, who won the 2016 spring split, is highly skilled and very popular.
While it is a remarkably colorful group for the community, metaphorically speaking, CLG does not hold all of the league's diversity. Diego "Quas" Ruiz plays for NRG eSports, and Alberto "Crumbz" Rengifo coaches for the new team Apex Gaming. Both hail from Venezuela. Apex's roster also features Cristian "Cris" Rosales, who is Mexican. Team SoloMid, which Bjergsen has played for since 2013, also recently welcomed Chinese-American Vincent "Biofrost" Wang to its starting roster for the 2016 summer split. These are just a few of the players who represent racial/ethnic diversity in the LCS community.
You have probably also noticed something else by now: where are the women? Surely there are many women who play the game, are there any women pros? Well, in late 2015, Maria "Remi" Creveling became the first woman in LCS history to win a promotion into the LCS with her team Renegades.
Now I can hear you saying "Noah, the teams are still mostly white," and "when will there be more women," and "what about LGBT players," and a number of other things. You are right, the LCS is not as diverse as it could be. But there are a few important things to think about.
Only 10 teams play in the NA LCS every season. A team has five players. Since substitutions are rather uncommon, that is 50 people representing the hundreds of millions in North America (and the many other places the players come from). The level of diversity present even in a sample size that small in certainly not negligible. And there are a number of diversity factors beyond race and sex that I could not find reliable information for, so there may be more that I have not touched on. Furthermore, professional eSports are still a relatively young community with lots of room to grow and mature going into the future. I would say they have a rather encouraging start, and that the LCS is more representative of the America I experience than some other communities I have seen.
