A move designed to tackle many issues within global competition

Over the weekend, both Blizzard and Riot Games, have made changes for their upcoming seasons. Teams will now have to compete in their native countries.

Blizzard started this wave of change, and are bringing eSports participants to a level similar of professional athletes. Players must be legal residents of the reason they choose to represent.

So it’s perfectly fine if you wish to play in a different region. You just have to have a visa, or other legal documentation to do so.

On the Riot side you have a team such as LMQ. They are a Chinese national team that competes in North America. As a result, they’re currently one of the teams representing NA at the 2014 League of Legends World Championships.

Their changes also affect teams that have foreign players on their rosters. Now teams can not have more than 2 non-residential players on their roster at the same time. A player cap if you will.

There are people upset over this, but I see it as a great change. Eastern regions have proven to be superior to western regions and this change will deter them from  playing in “easier” tournaments.

What do you think of these new rulings?

Sources: Blizzard, Red Bull eSports