Riot Games released a splash art for Pride Month in June 2023, featuring homosexual and queer characters in League of Legends . The image is intended to serve as a background for the “Pride Month 2023” event in LoL. This has sparked criticism. Riot Games responds calmly.
What is the trigger for the discussion?
- Riot Games supports the “Pride Month” in League of Legends with special skins and emotes. Pride Month serves to celebrate members of the LGBTQ+ community. The first Pride Month took place in 1970, after the police raided a gay bar in New York in June 1969.
- In patch 13.11, which is live on the test server, items that will come to LoL in June 2023 were already visible. The leaker Big Bad Bear presented 3 icons for Pride Month in a YouTube video (via youtube).
- On Twitter, an image was published on May 18 showing a selection of LoL characters who belong to the LGBTQ+ community. Among them are Netflix series star Vi, Caitlyn, Neeko, the new champion K’Sante, Nami, the couple Leona and Diana, Twisted Fate, and Graves.
Reaction is overwhelmingly positive, but some complain
What is the reaction to the image? On reddit , the image is widely discussed and commented on. A corresponding thread has 381 comments.
Most of the comments with many upvotes are positive. People discuss details and the backgrounds of the champions. They ask why certain characters who are “canonically” transgender are not seen in the image or talk about the individual relationships of the champions within the game.
However, there are also comments that deal negatively with the image. Users say things like:
- “When is the Straight Month? What about 95% of the population?”
- “Since when is Neeko gay?”
- “I wonder who Riot is making gay this year for marketing reasons?”
- “Seriously, Riot? I mean 8 champs out of 163? Is everyone in the game really gay now? I can’t play a game where an agenda is imposed on me. In 2025, will all heroes be gay?”
Riot: Characters were not retroactively changed – you just assumed they were heterosexual
This is how Riot Games responds: Alex Quach, producer of Riot Games, commented on the criticism on Twitter and published an FAQ:
- The image will be the professional background when certain icons are used during the event time window.
- In response to the question: “Why did you change XYZ?”, Quatch says: “We didn’t. You just assumed that they were heterosexual.”
- The image does not show all LGBTQIA+ heroes in LoL; rather only a specific selection.
Riot Games seems to take the scattered criticism lightly. The community also responds calmly to the criticism; negative comments about the image are downvoted on reddit and are mostly hidden, requiring activation to read.
Despite all the tolerance, there is a downside. Riot Games will likely not feature the Pride Month everywhere in LoL again, but only where they do not fear strong political resistance:
Despite all the tolerance, there is a downside. Riot Games will likely not feature the Pride Month everywhere in LoL again, but only where they do not fear strong political resistance:
