League of Legends: The official LPL is being ridiculed, its popularity and performance have plummeted, and they even want to implement a paid viewing plan.

Since the end of all matches in Season 15, the League of Legends community has been more lively and volatile than Honor of Kings. The latter had the international server KIC 2025 come to a perfect end and the Winter Festival to take over, while the Chinese server was still in a period of sluggish skin sales, busy with test server testing and preparing new content for Season 42. The former, on the other hand, had a simple off-season, but it was a very eventful one.

Suppress veterans' salaries, then charge audiences instead.

The change to a bidding system for transfers, taking advantage of the players' twilight years to suppress their salaries, has caused dissatisfaction among veteran players, leading to a boycott of the competition. Surprisingly, netizens are quite supportive of the official stance, stating that the veterans are too complacent, receiving salaries and clocking in at work, yet failing to produce outstanding results. They argue that every time they challenge Korean players from the LCK region, they end up losing. They are happy to support bringing in new blood, believing that the addition of new players might bring about a different landscape and is a good sign for LPL reform.

On the other hand, in the Korean server, T1 had just won their sixth consecutive championship, and a mysterious top-tier top laner born in 2004 immediately emerged, becoming the number one player in the Korean server. All players were eagerly awaiting his debut, even worrying about Doran's position, fearing he could be replaced at any moment. This internal competition was enough to ignite their desire to follow the games. LPL players hadn't even finished their banter when they were hit with negative comments reflecting their disappointment with the region. Several veteran players went on strike, and the future viewership and entertainment value remained uncertain. If you were asked to pay to watch the games now, how would you react? Everyone would say you're crazy!

Promote awareness of paying for sports viewing

Recently, an industry insider mentioned that the LPL region intends to implement a paid subscription plan in order to maintain a healthy ecosystem. Only with a willingness to pay can the industry continue to operate. As soon as the news came out, it immediately caused a lot of ridicule. Without achievements or honor, where does the face come from to charge the audience?

The LPL region was once a top-tier region in the world, with its greatest achievement being winning the World Championship three times. However, with the rapid development of League of Legends, its performance has been consistently poor. Both player performance and game popularity have declined significantly, and it has been overtaken by the LCK, with a precipitous lead. To put it bluntly, it may not even have a place to stand.