Published , by Brittany Vincent
Published , by Brittany Vincent
Riot Games has issued a statement urging players and all other participants to beware of what they say and to avoid talking about "sensitive topics" during livestreams.
In what appears to be a recently-deleted tweet from the @lolesports account, the announcement is positioned as a way to keep League of Legends a "positive force" for all.
"We serve fans from many different countries and cultures, and we believe this opportunity comes with a responsibility to keep personal views on sensitive issues (political, religious, or otherwise) separate. These topics are often incredibly nuanced, require deep understanding and a willingness to listen, and cannot be fairly represented in the forum our broadcast provides," said global League of Legends Esports head John Needham "Therefore, we have reminded our casters and pro players to refrain from discussing any of these topics on air."
Riot issued its statement following the happenings surrounding Hearthstone Grandmaster Chung "Blitzchung" Ng Wai's urging to "liberate Hong Kong" live on stream. Blizzard has been facing protests as a result of its decision to originally strip Ng Wai of his prize money. Riot Games is owned by Chinese company Tencent, which may very well account for much of the sentiment behind the message.
"Our decision also reflects that we have Riot employees and fans in regions where there has been (or there is risk of) political and/or social unrest, including places like Hong Kong. We believe we have a responsibility to do our best to ensure that statements or actions on our official platforms (intended or not) do not escalate potentially sensitive situations," continued the statement.
Riot did not indicate what kind of punishments could come to participants who do not end up following the rules. It's probably best at this point not to provoke the ire of the developer, just to stay on their good side if you're going to be taking part in the event.