Players is an American mockumentary streaming television series created by Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda, that premiered on June 16, 2022, on Paramount+. The series is a parody of sports documentaries, and follows Fugitive Gaming, a fictional pro League of Legends esports team.
Premise
The series follows a fictional pro League of Legends esports team as they pursue their first championship after years of close calls and heartache. To win it all, they will need their prodigy, a 17-year-old rookie, and their 27-year-old veteran to put their egos aside and work together.
Cast and characters
Main
- Misha Brooks as Creamcheese, Fugitive's 27-year-old veteran player
- Da’Jour Jones as Organizm, Fugitive's 17-year old gaming prodigy
- Ely Henry as Kyle Braxton, Fugitive's coach, and Creamcheese's closest friend
Recurring
- Holly Chou as April Braxton
- Youngbin Chung as Nightfall
- Noh Dong-Hyeon as BAP
- Micheal Ahn as Bucket
- Moses Storm as Guru
- Alexa Mansour as Emma 'Emmanence' Resnick
- Luke Tennie as Rudy Elmore Jr.
- Matt Shively as Frugger
- Stephen Schneider as Nathan Resnick
- Peter Thurnwald as Foresight
- Miles Mussenden as Rudy Elmore Sr.
- Arischa Conner as Simone Elmore
- Dan Perrault as Paul 'Bignpaul' Gilberstadt
- Ryan O'Flanagan as Chris McManus
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Creamcheese" | Tony Yacenda | Dan Perrault & Tony Yacenda | June 16, 2022 |
| 2 | "Organizm" | Tony Yacenda | Tim McAuliffe | June 16, 2022 |
| 3 | "Braxton" | Tony Yacenda | Kevin McManus & Matthew McManus | June 16, 2022 |
| 4 | "Ownership" | Tony Yacenda | Mark Stasenko | June 16, 2022 |
| 5 | "Guru" | Tony Yacenda | Natasha Kanury | June 23, 2022 |
| 6 | "Nightfall" | Tony Yacenda | Kristina Woo | June 30, 2022 |
| 7 | "Playoffs" | Tony Yacenda | Tim McAuliffe & Nguyen Le | July 7, 2022 |
| 8 | "Philadelphia" | Tony Yacenda | Michael Orton-Toliver | July 14, 2022 |
| 9 | "Finals" | Tony Yacenda | Mark Stasenko | July 21, 2022 |
| 10 | "Yuumi" | Tony Yacenda | Dan Perrault & Tony Yacenda | July 28, 2022 |
Production
Development
After coming off from American Vandal, co-creators, Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault sought to do another mockumentary style show. They got the idea for Players after doing research on the world of esports. Sport docuseries like The Last Dance, Cheers and Formula 1: Drive to Survive were inspirations for the show. The creators also looked at the narrative drama The Queen's Gambit as an example of how to depict a complicated game like chess for viewers who may not know the rules. In addition to having people from the League community in the writers room, producers at Riot Games would fact-check the scripts, in order to keep the show authentic to real life esports.
In August 2021, it was announced that Paramount+ had picked up a new comedic docu-style series that will explore the world of esports, titled Players. The show is created by Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault, both of whom serve as executive producers, with the former directing. CBS Studios produces the series, in association with, Funny or Die, Riot Games, 3 Arts Entertainment and Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Casting
In February 2022, Misha Brooks, Da’Jour Jones, Noh "Arrow" Dong-Hyeon, Michael “Miko” Ahn, and Youngbin Chung were cast in the series. A month later it was announced that Ely Henry had joined the cast of the show. In May 2022, it was announced that Holly Chou, Stephen Schneider, Peter Thurnwald, Moses Storm, Alexa Mansour, Luke Tennie, and series co-creator Dan Perrault had all joined the cast of the series.
Release
The first four episodes of the show were released on June 16, 2022, with subsequent episodes releasing weekly until July 28, 2022. The first season will consist of ten episodes.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of 17 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Familiarity with League of Legends will definitely help viewers connect better with Players satirical jabs, but this e-sports comedy reaffirms Dan Perrault and Tony Yacenda's knack for spoofing documentary conventions with amusing results." On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".