Riot Lead Developer Apologizes For Unsavory Remarks On League of Legends Discord
If you’re a League of Legends player you’ve undoubtedly come across toxic players at one time or another, probably said things that you shouldn’t have in the heat of the moment, and maybe even got reported for it. Water under the bridge right? Not if you’re the Lead Experience Designer for Riot Games.
Aaron Rutledge, a.k.a. Riot Sanjuro, made the mistake of insulting Tyler1, a perma-banned LoL streamer, on LoL’s Discord channel over the weekend, in response to what was apparently a call to unban the streamer. Here’s what Sanjuro said based on screenshots of the Discord chat:
“Free Tyler1 to make 100k+ a year on being a d*ck in a game he didn’t make.”
“He looks like a damn homunculus.”
“Honestly… it’s fine he’ll die from a coke overdose or testicular cancer from all the steroids… then we’ll be gucci.”
“U know how much bullsh*t he’s caused me? Personally?”
Sanjuro’s remark about Tyler1 dying didn’t sit well with the community and prompted a massive backlash that may well cost him his job. Sanjuro initially defended himself using his personal Reddit account saying that, “Dude cmon. That’s my personal take on the situation. I don’t speak for the company on live chat… I’m my own person.” He then later issued an apology to Tyler1 and the community:
“Reddit, League Players, Tyler - I displayed a gross error in judgement last night and whole-heartedly apologize for my comments. They were out of line, and not what any of you deserve to hear, especially from a Rioter. I’ll be taking time away from Reddit, discord and in game chat to reflect on how I communicate with players. Sorry again for the insults and the language.”
Riot Senior Writer Ryan “Cactopus” Rigney responds on Reddit saying that they will be handling the issue internally.
“To be very clear here: what was said is NOT okay, and we take it extremely seriously. I’d like to apologize on behalf of Riot to both Tyler1 and the community for this. We will be taking action internally to address this (although it would not be appropriate to go into specifics here).”
Tyler1 is a popular League of Legends streamer who was well-known for being an extremely toxic player, which according to his fans, is part of the streamer’s appeal. He was permanently banned by Riot when high-profile players started complaining about his behavior. The streamer claims that he has reformed and is disappointed that players still hold a grudge against him. Here is his response on the matter:
With that being said I have no hard feelings towards the guy. Shit happens.
— loltyler1 (@lol_tyler1) October 1, 2017
What Riot Games will be doing about Sanjuro still remains to be seen. Although, there are unconfirmed reports that Sanjuro was fired for the incident. We’ll let you know as soon as we hear more. Stay tuned for more on this and other MMO news. Meanwhile, you can check out the League of Legends Runes Reforged Preseason Stream after the break.
Edit: Sanjuro no longer works at Riot Games.
