The League of Legends Development League (LDL), China’s secondary league, has announced it will now restrict minor players from competing in professional match in line with the governments new gaming restriction laws. The LoL league has several players under the age of 18 and as the LDL ramps up its postseason, some teams have had to make rapid substitutions.
This has also caused a postponement of matches meant to be played on Thursday, Sept. 2. The LDL semifinals has been moved to Sept. 6 and the finals are now on Sept. 8. The third place match has been cancelled according to League of Legends Pro League journalist Ran.
LDL semi-final has been moved to Sep 6th, 3rd place match canceled, final moved to Sep 8th.
ALL players who are under 18 can't play in pro play from now on, in the meantime, orgs can use emergency subs, a team can not have more than 2 emergency subs. Roster deadline Sep 4th 10pm. pic.twitter.com/648mXqGbrs— Ran (@ran_lpl) September 2, 2021
The laws in question restrict online gaming for minors to three hours during the week and one hour on weekends, Fridays and holidays.
Like with many developmental leagues across the world, the LDL has many players under 18 competing. Now those players that are still playing in the league’s postseason, like Top Esports Challengers mid laner, Xu “Wangxiao” Hao-Yang, and substitute jungler, Yang “naiyou” Zi-Jian, have been dropped from the roster as of Aug. 31. They are now listed as free agents as the team looks for potential replacements. The other team’s competing in the semifinals, Royal Club, Joy Dream and Rare Atom Period have also let go of at least one player under the age of 18.
Organizations can use emergency subs, according to Ran’s translation, but team’s are only allowed two. Finalized rosters for the LDL playoff matches are due on Sept. 4.
China is known for developing young LoL talent in the LDL. Players like the legendary Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao and Yu “JackeyLove” Wen-Bo competed at the highest level of regional competition before their 18th birthday.
As for the parent league, no LPL teams have had to make changes due to the new laws. The LPL playoffs concluded Sept. 2 with Edward Gaming taking the crown over FunPlus Phoenix .
