Inside the Layers Decision
Should Hi-Rez Consider Moving the SPL Back Online?
[Note from the editor: it is important to remember that at the center of this contentious and emotional discussion is a player’s struggles with mental health and healing. Those within the SMITE community should approach this topic with compassion.]
Moments before the SMITE Pro League returned for Phase 3—live from Alpharetta, Georgia where all of the players would ostensibly be competing in-person—SMITE’s League Operations released a controversial statement allowing Layers to play from home. The statement, posted to the SMITE Pro League Twitter (@SmitePro) minutes before Phase 3 was scheduled to begin, referenced “one-time exceptions to [the SPL’s] LAN requirements” that are issued “when health issues arise.” Layers, the statement said, would be granted “such an exception” in order to focus on his mental health.
Following the statement, several players and others within the community took to Twitter to share their thoughts. In particular, European players in the SCC, SMITE’s two-region semi-pro format, expressed their conflicted emotions toward the decision, with many highlighting that European players have struggled to reach and stay in the SPL since it moved full-time to Alpharetta. In the wake of this conversation, it makes sense to take a look at the SPL on LAN and whether the time has come for Hi-Rez to consider a move back online.
Season 5 of the SMITE Pro-League, which ran from March 2019 to November 2019, was the last season to feature the two-region online format that persists in today’s SCC. Both North America and Europe sported six teams who competed in three ‘phases’ (then labeled spring, summer, and fall) before a final round of qualifying tournaments and the SMITE World Championships. A quick glance at the season 5 rosters lends some data to EU player’s concerns; of the 30 NA players active in season 5, 15 remain in the league today (Pandacat, BaRRaCCuDDa, Zapman, Paul, Sam4Soccer, Baskin, ScaryD, Aquarius, Venenu, Aror, Cyclonespin, PolarBearMike, Neilmah, Screammmmm, and fineokay) while for Europe, that number is just 7 of 30 (Variety, QvoFred, CaptainTwig, Vote, Nika, BigManTingz, and Dardez). Notable European dropouts include two time champions iRaffer, Adapting, Yammyn, and Emilitoo—who dominated the league together on NRG for more than a calendar year—Deathwalker, iceicebaby, KaLaS, and Wlfy—who were runners up themselves in back-to-back World Championships—and other such as Duck3y, PrettyPrime, and Ataraxia.
Several of these players played a season or two after the move to LAN, but the disparity highlights the fact that European SPL players have not had the same staying power as those in North America. In today’s SPL, only 9 of the league’s 40 players are from Europe, down from 14 a season ago. As former European players say, their reasons for leaving the SPL are varied, but a common thread is the difficulty of spending much of the year a continent away from home.
For Hi-Rez, the goal is always to ensure that the product—the entertainment generated not just by competitive play, but by production value, fan engagement, and a number of other factors—is as high as possible. Moving the league online was always going to somewhat diminish the competitive pool as some players would not be willing to move. The calculation on the part of Hi-Rez was that the LAN environment, and the competitive atmosphere and production value it enables, would offset the small loss to the player pool.
This conviction was challenged, however, first when the Bolts began their search for a solo laner prior to phase 3 and again when Layers announced he would not be playing in order to return home. The prospect of two of the league’s top teams playing with unproven replacements may have seemed to Hi-Rez like too great a compromise to the league’s competitive balance and thus the overall product. Paul “Hayzer” Hay suggested as much in his recent video on the topic. When asked for further comment, Hayzer suggested that the biggest issue is with how Hi-Rez supports the SCC. “The way the SCC is run is really just quite poor, which I believe discourages the top level SCC players from wanting to make the jump up to the SPL” Hayzer said. The result is a diminished talent pool for teams in the market for players.
Angry, the mid laner for the Highland Ravens in the European SCC, also shared his thoughts on twitter. “Mental health is an important thing, but allowing some players to play from home while others have to move to another continent to compete is another thing” Angry said, adding “Where do we draw the line?” Asked to elaborate, Angry said that “the few scc players or even soc players that want to make the jump and are willing to play on lan and compete in spl lost out on a chance” when Baskin and Layers were allowed to play from home.
Auverin, the brand manager for the SMITE Pro League, shared a statement on Reddit regarding the decision. In it, Auverin gave a number of reasons why the SPL remains on LAN despite the exceptions, such as competitive integrity, viewing experience, and sponsorship opportunities. “Partners like Alienware have been absolutely invaluable to our league over the last few years, and we wouldn't be able to secure these partners without being able to market their products in a year-long LAN environment” the statement read, adding that “Historically, our appeal to sponsors has been significantly diminished when operating most of our season online.” When asked for further comment about the future of the SPL and how the league would consider these players’ comments, Auverin stated that fans would have to wait for an official announcement regarding plans for season 10.
Then should the league return to a two-region online format to allow more players, particularly those in Europe, to play in the SPL? Tyler “Hurriwind” Whitney, former SPL and current SCC player, doesn’t think so. “The online league would be the beginning of the end for the SPL. I personally would love to avoid any direction that leads us towards that conclusion,” Hurriwind said. Commenting about the decisions themselves, Hurriwind said “I do think Baskin's being allowed was likely a mistake made in haste to help the Bolts out when troubled with roster issues” adding that “I'm not sure any of us have the authority to claim what was absolutely correct in this case.”
While a move back online on the surface allows more players to compete, the consensus among those close to the league seems to be that staying on LAN is crucial to the long term health of the league. To support this, Hi-Rez may consider a reinvestment into the SCC, encouraging players to compete and improve so that, when a spot does open up, they are ready and willing to play in Alpharetta.
