The developer behind League of Legends, Riot Games, is currently dealing with accusations of sexism. In response, they aimed to specifically promote women. But this has also caused discontent.
Sexism Debate at Riot: The developers of LoL have been under fire for weeks. The press has published accusations from former employees that there is a culture of sexism at Riot Games (via Kotaku).
Some of it is quite harsh, as it describes how people supposedly interacted with each other on a daily basis (via BarryHawkins).
Riot has taken this discussion seriously, apologized, and promised improvement. But the initial “improvement attempts” are now causing stress again.
This is what Riot has done: At Pax West 2018, Riot Games rented a room to hold seminars.
These are seminars that mainly focus on how to get into the gaming industry. In single conversations, applicants are guided on what a resume or work samples should look like.
Please note: until 2:30 room 613 is only open for women and nonbinary folks. We welcome all to join the room after 2:30 😀
— Mel Capperino-Garcia ? #PaxWest2018 (@Riotswimbananas) August 31, 2018
Seminars Only for Women and Non-Binary Folks
What annoys people? Room 613 is only open for “women” and “non-binary folks” during the first hours. Everyone else can only attend after lunch.
By “non-binary folks,” they presumably mean people who do not wish to commit to a gender.
This is the idea behind it: After the accusations of sexism, Riot apparently aims to deliberately promote women who wish to enter gaming. This seems to be a counter-reaction to the sexism allegations.
Riot has also announced that they will focus more on “diversity.” This could mean that they want to recruit more women and LGBT individuals themselves.
Reddit is Outraged – LoL Employees Respond, Things Get Worse
This is how Reddit reacts: The majority of the LoL community on Reddit views this “exclusive” event critically. They believe Riot is responding to allegations of sexism with even more sexism, this time against men.
It is particularly frustrating that the most interesting events are taking place in room 613, from which men would be excluded. As an alternative, there is only a “cosplay workshop” for a few hours.
A female fan says: “I’m sitting here thinking: What the hell is going on? Riot, that’s not how you handle these things. […] What if someone’s sister or girlfriend can’t make it to PAX and asks a buddy to go to such a seminar for her to take notes?”
In response to the suggestion to simply identify as “gender-fluid”, another says: “I am heterosexual and male, and I don’t see why I should have to pretend to get into a room; being heterosexual and male doesn’t make me a less important person.”
Riot Employees React Angrily: Over Twitter, Riot employee Daniel Z. Klein, a system designer, expressed frustration that Riot is being criticized for the action. The powerful majority is crying “sexism.”
Men are overrepresented in gaming. They should be excluded sometimes too.
The well-known LoL caster “Froskurinn” also criticized the community on Reddit for their behavior. They first labeled Riot’s sexist behavior as “disgusting”. Now, however, Reddit is criticizing it when men are excluded.
These responses then led to even more anger on Reddit.
Riot has officially tweeted again, rebuking its employees for their emotional reactions. They expect Riot employees to behave respectfully. However, they emphasize their intention to bring women into gaming with the workshops for “women and non-binary folks.”
This is what’s behind it: Sexism is a topic where emotions run high each time, leading to sharp controversies. Recent incidents in Guild Wars 2 and Cyberpunk 2077 have recently proven this.
Every discussion here is particularly intense and seems to polarize the gaming community.
More on the topic of LoL and the crisis that the game is supposedly in:
