Riot’s European League Championship series continues to come under duress, as more teams express their frustration with the League of Legends founder’s handling of Europe’s top-flight league.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]PSG stated that its Challenger Series experiment “led us to wonder about the League of Legends competitive scene economic balance.”[/perfectpullquote]

PSG Esports today announced that it would be withdrawing from competitive League of Legends for the time being, citing Riot’s revenue sharing model as a primary concern. In a blog post on the PSG Esports website, PSG stated that its Challenger Series experiment “led us to wonder about the League of Legends competitive scene economic balance.”

The post went on to state that the revenue sharing model offered to EU LCS teams by Riot Games is “very far from compensating the costs of a structure with European ambitions.” It is important to note, however, that failure to qualify for the European LCS was also likely a motivating factor for PSG Esports.

Additionally, Unicorns of Love, perennial fan favorites and contenders for the top of the European table, also released a blog post today, detailing a myriad of frustrations for the team. UOL owner Jos Mallant expressed solidarity with H2K Gaming’s manifesto, expressing that player salary increase has become a detriment to the organisation:

“In the years, the conditions for players improved a lot. The salaries went up exponentially and their status changed from (semi) independent contractors to employees. As a result, the player’s salaries went out of proportion compared to the income of the organisations”

Mallant is reportedly also weary of Riot’s revenue sharing, stating that organisations still have to rely on Riot to make the correct decisions, lest more and more European organisations drop out of the game entirely.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]UoL owner Jos Mallant is reportedly weary of revenue sharing, stating that organisations still have to rely on Riot to make the correct decisions.[/perfectpullquote]

With the recent reports that the European LCS will split off into four regional spots, similar to UEFA’s Champion’s League, the value of each European franchise slot will fall off dramatically, an issue UOL’s Jos Mallant points out. Mallant also covers several other negative aspects of so many teams, such as sponsorships – currently the primary revenue stream for a lot of organisations – being spread thinner among teams, and 24 teams, rather than the 10 in North America, competing for worlds spots.

The ball is entirely in Riot’s court, and according to an Esports Observer interview with H2K co-chariman Richard Lippe, European teams have all been in continuing conversations with Riot regarding their grievances. The gist of it boils down to Riot’s apparent favoritism towards the North American LCS, and Riot needs to recognize that bias if it wants to slow the decline of one of the biggest esports leagues in the West.