League of Legends Stars Say Goodbye to China's Biggest Paydays
The 2026 League of Legends World Championship is about to begin in Texas, and the talk around the tournament is as much about money and retirement as it is about who lifts the trophy. This week, one of the game’s best-known Chinese-based pros, Doinb, told viewers on his stream that former world champion Light has stepped away from competition to “enjoy life” — describing him as the only player he knows who simply said he would not play and then stopped.
The reason, Doinb suggested, is simple: Light spent the years when China’s League of Legends Pro League (LPL) was paying its highest salaries on a top-tier contract at Weibo Gaming (WBG), and no longer needs the income. It is a striking remark about how much the economics of competitive gaming in China have changed. During the boom, the LPL was widely seen as the wealthiest domestic league in esports, drawing Korean stars and paying domestic talent sums that dwarfed most rival regions.
That era now looks like a peak rather than a plateau. With the global championship about to start, several Korean players heading to the United States were asked at the airport which opponents they hoped to face. HLE jungler Kanavi said he wanted a match against Anyone’s Legend (AL), the team that arrives as LPL champion, and that he was keen to meet BLG’s Xun again after their encounter at the Mid-Season Invitational.
HLE mid laner Zeka, meanwhile, said he had never faced Invictus Gaming (iG) on the international stage and would like the chance, while recalling his 2022 world title in the United States and saying he wants another after four years. His teammate Gumayusi named T1, his former organisation, as the team everyone still expects, fears and wants to play at Worlds — the kind of matchup that carries its own flavour.
For Chinese fans, the mood around the LPL has turned unusually anxious. A foreign commentator, Zaboutine, recently argued on a podcast that if BLG do not win the title, the LPL will struggle to reclaim its status as the world’s second-strongest region, citing tighter money and wasted youth development. The claim drew a long rebuttal from a former RA manager and agent, who insisted the league still has funds and that European teams could not even match the LPL’s minimum salaries when they tried to poach talent.
Elsewhere, the competitive map keeps shifting. Reports from Sheep Esports suggest three BFX players — jungler Raptor and the bot-lane pair Taeyoon and Kellin — are set to join KT for the 2027 season, part of KT’s rebuild after finishing fifth in the LCK. The same outlet counted four Korean titles across six international events this year, with a fifth still possible.
On the Chinese side, the domestic scene remains busy. The KPL, China’s top mobile esports league for Honor of Kings, staged a tiebreaker match in its annual finals, while the CS2 Thunder Cup third-place decider went to Aurora over Falcons. TSW, the LCP’s top seed, posted a team photo before flying out, captioned simply: “Texas, we are here.” Their first Swiss-stage match comes on 24 October.
What ties these threads together is a sport maturing. The days of limitless salaries are giving way to sharper questions about sustainability, player welfare and where the next generation comes from. For stars like Light, the answer may be a quiet exit; for the LPL, it is whether the league can keep its place near the top without the spending that once made it irresistible.