Team Vitality are shutting down their LFL academy. The announcement came through a video posted on the organisation’s social media, with co-founder Fabien “Neo” Devide in voice-over thanking the players, coaches and staff who have worn the Vitality.Bee jersey since the team entered the French league in 2019.
The video retraces the academy’s history and the talent that came through it. Kaan “Naak Nako” Okan and Josip "Jopa" Čančar are among the players highlighted, two players who went from the Bee roster to LEC teams. For an academy, that pipeline was the whole purpose of the project, and Vitality made a point of showing it worked.
Neo did not present the decision as final. His narration ends on a line that leaves room for a comeback:
For now, the time has come to close this chapter.
Several reasons behind one decision
In a separate video, Neo described the closure as the result of several factors coming together. He named Webedia’s withdrawal from the LFL as one of the main causes, along with an ecosystem he considers too unstable. The decision is also financial, with Vitality wanting to invest more in the LEC. He framed it as a “see you soon” more than a goodbye.
A league losing its foundations
Webedia have run the LFL since its first season in 2019 and will no longer organise it from next year. No replacement has been officially named, and the league have yet to communicate on 2027.
Vitality are not alone. Ici Japon Corp Esport announced on 7 October that they will cease operations at the end of 2026, citing the uncertain future of the French league among their reasons. Joblife have also confirmed their departure. A year earlier, Gentle Mates, GameWard and IziDream had already walked away.
The LFL has long been the strongest of the ERLs. If it can no longer convince a structure like Vitality to keep an academy, the question extends to the whole tier-two ecosystem in EMEA.
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