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Professional League of Legends matches across all regions have long remained one patch behind the live servers.
However, the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) will step away from the tradition in the 2024 season.
It’s become a custom for professional LoL games to play on older patches due to the tight turnaround between patch releases and competitive scheduling.
With patches being released every second Wednesday, most LoL esports teams wouldn’t have the time to adapt to changes before stepping on stage.
Yet, the LCS doesn’t seem too bothered by that.
According to the announcement, which also unveiled Mark “MarkZ” Zimmerman as LCS’s commissioner, the North American LoL esports league confirmed that all 2024 LCS games will be played on live patches.
Other LoL leagues have not announced any changes to the ruleset, meaning they’ll likely stick with the old tradition of playing on patches behind the live servers.
How the rule change will affect LCS teams remains to be seen, but it will force a more challenging schedule on the players, who will have just two days of practice before the matches.
Watch the very first #LCS Address with @TheeMarkZ to learn about all of the changes coming in 2024!
🔴 Live Patch
⏰ Less Time Between Games
👥 Community Interactivity
➕ And More!📺 https://t.co/2rI53xdD5D pic.twitter.com/vOrhglw7Yc
— LCS (@LCSOfficial) January 9, 2024
The decision to move all pro games to live patches comes after a plethora of changes the league has announced in the months leading up to the 2024 season.
In December, LCS unveiled that it is returning to a weekend schedule, one year after all games were moved to Thursday-Friday.
The unconventional plan proved harmful to the overall viewership, as the LCS peaked at just over 271,376 viewers in the spring and just under 224,000 viewers in the Summer Split.
A month prior, in November 2023, LCS was also hit with the exodus of Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians, who left the LoL esports scene, continuing a worrying trend that was started by TSM, who exited the North American LoL league in September.
While Shopify Rebellion replaced TSM, LCS didn’t find any replacement teams to fill the gaps that Evil Geniuses and Golden Guardians left behind.
As a result, the 2024 season will start with just eight squads, making the LCS the smallest of the major LoL leagues.
The next season starts with the LCS Spring Split on Saturday, January 20, 2024.
