ALGS quietly drops rule restricting orgs to a single team

ALGS have quietly removed a rule that prevents organisations from owning multiple teams in the ALGS. The rulebook, updated December 20th no longer contains rule 2.3.4.

This rule was controversial upon its introduction. Multiple organisations, most notably Kungarna, were forced to choose between multiple rosters in different regions.

More recently, there was confusion as to how this rule could impact the likes of Complexity and FaZe, who have the same ownership following a recent acquisition.

" 2.3.4. Representing an Organization in the ALGS
Teams may represent an organization in the ALGS, subject to the following restrictions:
● Multiple Teams may not represent the same organization; and
● Competitors and Teams may not represent an organization that may have direct or indirect operational control of another organization in any Event. Teams are required to report any potential concurrent organizational conflict to EA."

However, this rule no longer exists in the latest rules.

Besides the implications for both FaZe and Complexity, this rule could have much wider ramifications on the ALGS.

It is no secret that several organisations have backed out of ALGS this off-season. Despite a revamped ALGS partnership programme, the number of teams involved will be significantly lower in Year 4 than Year 3.

Allowing teams to once again pick up multiple rosters could unlock significant potential, especially in regions outside of North America. Teams like TSM could opt to have a team in multiple regions, meaning more players get signed and organisations get more involved in the esport ecosystem.

It also means that players who are signed in smaller regions won't be under as much pressure to move to North America. Teams can simply sign a second team if they want to be involved there, but are happy with their current team.

There is also no longer any concerns over teams like Tripods. They were previously a grey area, all being signed to FaZe as content creators. This was despite FaZe also having an official roster.

Metadata on the PDF file reveals that this rule change was uploaded on December 20th. No information has been released on this change. There was no notification, or announcement, that this rule was being removed.

It is not clear why this rule has been changed. Undoubtedly the rule was controversial when introduced, and this is likely to be considered a positive and popular change.

esports.gg has reached out to EA/ALGS for official comment on the new rules and the removal of 2.3.4.

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