Riot Games Announces LCS Game Changers Program To Recruit Female Players To The Pros

Riot Games has announced the LCS Game Changers, a new program designed to introduce more female players to the professional League of Legends circuit. 

LCS Game Changers will seek out 10 female players with high ELO rankings in LoL and place them into two teams of five. From there the teams will experience what the official announcement calls "life as a pro." This includes daily scrimmages against multiple teams, positional coaching, VOD reviews, and more. At the end of the program, the two teams will compete against one another in a best-of-5 series. 

"We understand this process can be daunting to do alone," the blog post states, "and we’re excited to host this event that will act both as a training and scouting ground to provide women with more paths into the esports scene."

The LCS Game Changers program follows the VALORANT Champions Tour Game Changers tournament series, where teams made up of female and marginalized players compete concurrently with the VCT. The most recent event, Series 2, took place in July 2021 with Cloud9 White defeating Counter Logic Gaming Red in the final match to take home the $20,000 top prize.

One of the VCT Game Changers most prominent players, Dignitas' Heather "sapphiRe" Garozzo, recently spoke with Esports.GG about the initiative. “There is not enough spotlight on these women’s events," Garozzo said,  "and that is something I want more of.”  

Interested players can register at the official LCS Game Changers website here. According to the official rules applicants must:

The LCS Game Changers application process begins today, August 24, and runs until player selection is announced on September 3. The event begins on September 27 and runs until October 8.