On the afternoon of October 8th, the League of Legends community in China was shaken. Their legend – the “God of the Jungle” Mlxg announced he was suing his management company. Notably, this company is also closely related to Royal Never Give Up – Mlxg’s former team. According to the former player, the management company was dishonest in negotiations with him, and many netizens commented under his post that the company was suspected of withholding his salary and bonuses from streaming, making his life extremely difficult.
Famous “Slave Contracts” in the League of Legends Scene
From Mlxg’s situation, people immediately recall another case closely related to Mlxg: the legendary marksman Uzi. Although Uzi’s life may be better than Mlxg’s, he is also in a “dilemma” due to harsh binding clauses with RNG, even though Uzi has retired.
Specifically, the case of the “National Marksman” was during his playing time, RNG had signed binding contracts regarding Uzi’s streaming management, transfers, etc. However, what outraged the League of Legends community in China and Uzi’s fans was that just as Uzi’s contract was about to end, his girlfriend revealed on social media Weibo that RNG had “taken advantage” to sell part of Uzi’s contract to a third party. Notably, one of the clauses in this contract stipulated: Uzi could only play for RNG, and any other team wishing to recruit him would have to pay a huge fee to release him from the contract.
As a result, Uzi can now only livestream day by day and watch fellow players and younger generations continue to conquer new glories. No team wants (or is willing) to spend a large amount of money to recruit a player whose career lifespan is only about 1-2 years at most. However, for a player yearning for the World Championship title like Uzi, he truly feels overwhelmed. Moreover, Uzi’s streaming career hasn’t been particularly smooth. He is famous, but he is not someone suited to create clickbait content. He only has pure gameplay streams, which cannot attract viewers like Faker or Doinb, and Uzi lacks a supporting team as dedicated as his two famous colleagues. For Uzi now, besides the title “Legendary Marksman”, he has nothing left after ending his career at RNG.
In the opposing region of LPL, many long-time League of Legends fans may know the relationship between Kanavi and Griffin. More than two years ago, the “slave contract” incident involving Kanavi made it all the way to the South Korean National Assembly. Riot China, Riot Korea, and the Korean Esports Association had to quickly set up an investigation team. The talented jungler from JD had experienced a period of unemployment and had to stay with Dopa before reuniting with his family.
Although the incident was later resolved with Kanavi becoming a free agent, both Griffin and JDG received penalties. However, some content (suspected to be from the contract) was leaked on social media, and many of those clauses were extremely strict, such as “The player will have their contract unilaterally terminated if hospitalized for 30 consecutive days for reasons outside of competition.” (Clause 7, Article 16) or “The player will have their contract unilaterally terminated if they suffer from a serious illness or a life-threatening injury.” (Clause 8, Article 16), causing the League of Legends community to be outraged and feel sympathy for Kanavi.
One thing that helped Kanavi fare better than his two senior colleagues in LPL is that he was still very young when the incident was exposed, and Kanavi still had time to rebuild everything. As a result, currently, Kanavi is playing for JDG, becoming one of the top junglers in LPL today.
Back in the VCS region, while there are rumors of “slave contracts”, they remain at the level of speculation. Specifically, the relationship between GAM Esports and Zeros, EasyLove. After EasyLove announced his departure from GAM, Zeros also posted allegations against his former team regarding the “starvation wages” paid to players. Moreover, the former top laner of SBTC Esports even stated that EasyLove had to request a salary increase to reach 7 million.
Although later, EasyLove personally confirmed that GAM did not pressure him regarding his salary. He even mentioned that he had seen the contract and felt he did not contribute much, so he agreed to the salary GAM offered. However, EasyLove’s vague response when Zeros pressed, “Is the 5 million salary real?” was, “You know, why ask?” which led the public to speculate further.
The Fate of League of Legends Players
One truth is that most Esports players have incomplete educational backgrounds, with only a few having the opportunity to study thoroughly. Moreover, from a young age, during their initial learning phase and personality development, these players had to move into gaming houses, focusing solely on training and matches alongside their teammates. Many players, despite years of competition, still struggle to conduct interviews coherently or possess enough life experience to prepare for a day when they can no longer compete.
Today, it cannot be denied that teams are becoming more proactive in providing players with cultural knowledge and life skills training. However, with an environment that revolves solely around eating, sleeping, and gaming, it is difficult for these players to protect themselves. In cases like Uzi or Mlxg, they had to endure unacceptable conditions before deciding to stand up against their management, but by then it may have been too late.
The career lifespan of a player is short, filled with numerous injuries and ailments. Yet, once their careers end, they can only take on roles related to gaming, such as streamers, analysts, or coaches. But throughout the few years from debut to retirement, they will always face the risk of being “exploited” right from their “second home”. Meeting a professional and transparent team can be considered lucky; otherwise, becoming “prey” to “slave contracts” is a looming reality, and even now, players still have no way to protect themselves in this trap-filled Esports environment.