NRG and Immortals are reportedly exiting the LCS as the Americas region prepares for a significant overhaul for the 2025 season.
According to LCS insider Travis Gafford, both organizations are set to depart by the start of the 2025 season. Immortals has been a fixture in the league since 2016 but took a break in 2017 after not securing a partnership spot. They returned in 2020 after acquiring OpTic Gaming’s slots.
NRG also participated in the LCS starting in 2016 but took a prolonged hiatus until purchasing Counter Logic Gaming’s slot in 2023.
This announcement follows the completion of the 2024 season, during which all representatives for Worlds were determined, prompting Riot Games to initiate league restructuring.
NRG is leaving the LCS only a year and a half after rejoining.
Announced in June, the LCS, LLA, and CBLOL will merge to form a pan-America league, with LCS and CBLOL functioning as separate conferences.
Riot has indicated that each conference will showcase six of its existing teams, implying that the LCS will remove two teams from its lineup.
Before the 2024 season, both Golden Guardians and Evil Geniuses left the LCS, condensing the league from ten to eight teams. With NRG and Immortals’ exits, the league will be reduced to six teams in 2025.
As of now, NRG, Immortals, and Riot have not publicly commented on Gafford’s report, though NRG’s players have made ambiguous posts on social media regarding the situation. Prior to this news, NRG underwent layoffs that affected various roles within the organization.
During NRG’s brief time in the LCS, they claimed victory in the Summer split on their initial attempt, qualified for Worlds, and reached the Quarterfinals.
Conversely, throughout Immortals’ lengthy presence in the LCS, they only made it to Worlds once in 2017.
For the 2025 season, the six remaining teams will be 100 Thieves, Cloud9, Dignitas, FlyQuest, Shopify Rebellion, and Team Liquid, assuming no additional slot acquisitions occur.
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