Riot warns League of Legends players to be wary of ‘sensitive statements’
Riot Games says League of Legends players should “abstain” from speaking about “sensitive topics” during esports matches. The developer’s statements come shortly after Blizzard banned a Hearthstone player who spoke out about the protests in Hong Kong.
The message comes from John Needham, the head of League of Legends’ e-sports division, including via Twitter outwards. The company says it has reminded League of Legends players and broadcasters to be careful with sensitive statements during broadcasts. At the moment, the world championships of the popular online game are taking place. Although the World Cup takes place in Europe, the game is also very popular in China.
“As a general rule, we want our broadcasts to focus on the game, the sport, and the players,” the statement read. Needham says LoL is played by players from many different countries and cultures, and therefore there is “the responsibility to keep personal opinions on sensitive topics separate.” He means, among other things, ‘political or religious’ opinions. According to Needham, such discussions contain so many nuances that they cannot be properly explained during live broadcasts.
Needham goes on to specifically mention Riot employees and fans who live in Hong Kong. “They live in places where there is or could be political or social unrest. We believe that we should do our best to ensure that statements or actions on our platform do not cause such potentially sensitive situations to escalate.”
The message comes at a sensitive time. On Thursday, Blizzard banned a professional Hearthstone player. He had expressed his support for the protesters in Hong Kong. They have been demonstrating for weeks against the oppressive influence of the Chinese government. That led to a lot of criticism from players, fans, and other companies like Epic. Riot Games has been wholly owned by Chinese social media giant Tencent since 2015. In 2017, the Chinese company announced its intention to invest 13 billion in e-sports.