Players (2022 TV series)

Players is an American mockumentary 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.

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
 * Michael 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
 * Christopher Gilstrap as PuttPutt

Production
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 American Vandal co-creators, 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.

After coming off from American Vandal, Yacenda and 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, Cheer 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.

On February 1, 2023, the series was removed from Paramount+.

Release
The first four episodes were released on June 16, 2022, with subsequent episodes releasing weekly until July 28, 2022. The first season consisted of ten episodes.

In December 2022, Funny or Die released the entire series for free on their YouTube channel.

Reception
On Metacritic, the series has a weighted average score of 80 out of 100, based on reviews from 10 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".