Team Vitality Closes LoL Academy Team After Nine Years

Team Vitality has closed Vitality.Bee after nine years in Europe’s regional League of Legends competition. The organization will monitor the development of regional leagues before deciding whether to fund another academy roster.

Fabien “Neo” Devide, Team Vitality’s CEO and co-founder, explained the decision in a video released by the organization. He linked the closure to the current state of the competitive system and said Vitality wants to wait before making another long-term commitment.

“It will take a little more time for the ecosystem to evolve and reach a point where we are satisfied and can invest in it again,” Neo said.

Neo also identified player development as a continuing priority for Team Vitality. He cited players who progressed through the organization’s academy system and later competed in the League of Legends EMEA Championship, or LEC.

Kaan “Naak Nako” Okan is one recent example. Team Vitality signed the top laner in December 2023. He spent one season with Vitality.Bee before joining the main roster and kept his place in the team’s LEC lineup for 2026.

Team Vitality has competed in Europe’s regional circuit for nine years, while its academy roster has used the Vitality.Bee name since 2019. The organization has been part of the French League of Legends League, or LFL, since the competition began.

Vitality.Bee reached its best result at the EMEA Masters Summer 2024 tournament. The team reached the grand final, where it lost 3-1 to BDS Academy in an all-French match between two LFL teams.

The team’s final season ended with an eighth-place finish among 10 teams in the 2026 LFL Summer Split. Vitality.Bee missed the playoffs.

Team Vitality also explored a merger with BDS Academy in 2025. The proposed arrangement would have allowed the teams to share resources and reduce operating costs. Riot Games rejected the project over competitive integrity concerns.

Vitality.Bee’s closure follows other changes in France’s League of Legends competition. Webedia, which operated the LFL for several years, is leaving the competition, leaving its structure for 2027 uncertain. Ici Japon Corp. Esport has also announced the end of its operations.

Five of the 10 teams from the 2026 LFL Summer Split have confirmed they will not return in 2027. Riot Games removed the requirement for LEC organizations to operate academy teams in 2022. Each organization can now decide whether to fund a regional roster.

The current licensing cycle for regional league organizers runs through the end of 2027. Any changes to the regional competition system will depend on future decisions by Riot Games.

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