Last week’s dispute between Riot Games and the owners of teams in its professional League of Legends league highlighted one of the biggest issues for the game’s esports scene—lack of income. Today, a report from PVPLive places the blame for the league’s mismanagement squarely on the shoulders of Riot’s Director of Esports, Whalen Rozelle.

The issue at hand was seemingly resolved late last week, after one of Riot’s founders, Marc “Tryndamere” Merrill, promised that LCS teams would have much more opportunities for revenue in the coming year, including a form of revenue sharing between the league and its teams. The promise brought hope to many that Riot would finally change its ways, but today’s report casts a harsh light on Rozelle and those who’ve left him in charge for four years—including Merrill.

The Rift

I encourage you to read the full report in depth, but in summary, according to anonymous sources, Rozelle’s presence at Riot coincided in an increasingly political and toxic environment. The report goes on to accuse Rozelle of only having his position due to a friendship with Dustin Beck, brother of Riot co-founder Brandon Beck.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”He made a strong appeal for his involvement in esports, thanks to his fandom of the Giants and Golden State Warriors. It was intended for him to focus more on broadcast quality and creating LoLesports – he had no experience running tournaments, or with league management, or event management. He ultimately ended up in directorship, not because he made up for that gap in knowledge, but due to his close working relationship with Dustin Beck, brother of founder Brandon Beck.”[/perfectpullquote]

The report continues, accusing Rozelle’s inexperience with holding back the LCS, and that he has “done nothing to set up the sustainable ecosystem.” One source confirmed that many team owners are operating at a loss, and that Rozelle, despite claims of regular communication, talked directly with owners extremely infrequently, if at all.

At its core, the internal debate at Riot, per sources, revolves around defining success. “How do you make improvements when you’re the most played game in the world?” wonders one source. Creating a sustainable ecosystem, in this case, appears to be stifled by the overall aim of Riot Games to have a profitable video game. PVPLive’s sources blame Rozelle for a lack of overall concern for creating a professional scene, and rather, focusing on keeping the LCS as a marketing tool.

The report concludes with two specific examples that sources provided to prove Rozelle’s incompetence.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“When new casters were being interviewed, and this was back in early 2015, late 2014, they were asked a question: ‘who is the better analyst, Jatt or MonteCristo?’ If you answered Monte, Whalen stopped the interview to explain to you why you were wrong.”[/perfectpullquote]

The second example accuses Rozelle of forcing the Renegades to sell its LCS spot “in the 11th hour,” benefiting interested buyers that Rozelle allegedly had connections with. PVPLive, however, was unable to verify that this allegation had any truth to it.

Placing fault

The report in total casts Rozelle as an out-of-touch, in-over-his-head director with little prior experience that has led Riot’s esports department into an ineffective and unwelcoming environment—and the LCS into shambles. For what it’s worth, several ex-employees confirmed that they had similar experiences and judgments about Rozelle to some of the things stated in the report.

It’s also worth mentioning that Rozelle, and the rest of Riot, have refrained from making any public statement on the matter thus far. Per the report, esports professionals outside of Riot have been petitioning Tencent—the Chinese company that owns Riot—to respond to the increasingly worrying situation. This may or may not include firing Rozelle.

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Placing fault… won’t solve the problems, and it definitely doesn’t absolve his bosses from their role in his place within the company, and the current state of the scene.[/perfectpullquote]

More importantly, though, is the recognition that significant problems exist within the League of Legends professional scene. Placing fault on anyone’s shoulders is natural—and indeed, if Rozelle did the things he’s accused of, it’d be fair to release him. But that won’t solve the problems, and it definitely doesn’t absolve his bosses from their role in his place within the company, and the current state of the scene.

Riot Games is currently the number one game developer in esports, and the LCS is the top-viewed esports competition in the world. The company has a duty to its fans not to let the scene stagnate and implode, and assuredly is facing questions from Tencent about how this issue became so public so quickly. The only way to solve this problem is through well-thought-out solutions—and those can only come from the top minds in esports.