The Ukrainian tournament operator, WePlay Esports, has released a statement confirming longstanding rumors that the Academy League will not be held for the time being due to the ongoing war in the country.
Today, we have to announce that the WePlay Academy League project is on pause until the end of the full-scale war in Ukraine. The experience of the recent seasons has shown that in the present situation, there are no proper conditions that would allow us to hold the next seasons of the tournament to the standard we set since Season 1. As before, the safety of our staff and all tournament participants is our top priority. This decision was agreed upon with all participating organizations.WePlay Esports
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, WePlay Esports has held three seasons of WAL online in the summer and fall of 2022. The prize pool for each season was $100,000. The champions of seasons 4-6 were Fnatic, MOUZ NXT, and Young Ninjas.
The legacy of WePlay's work
Many of the players who participated in the academy league eventually ended up in the main roster of their respective club (xertioN, torzsi, npl, etc.), or in another tier-1 organization like headtr1ck.
Earlier, FiReLEAGUE launched their own counterpart to WePlay Academy League in South America, managing to hold one season. The winner was FURIA Academy, who won $10,000. Perhaps tournament operators in Europe could also launch a similar project, but most likely academic rosters will simply continue to play in online tier-2/3 tournaments as before. Nevertheless, it is unfortunate to lose an environment where youth rosters could compete on equal terms.
Source: WePlay Esports Media Holding
Comments