The company Riot Games (League of Legends) has expelled popular Twitch streamer Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera from its “League Partner” program. The LoL streamer thus loses a significant portion of his content. The bizarre part: No one really knows why he was kicked out.
These privileges are now gone: The “League Partner Program” (LPP), which Riot Games grants to certain content creators, provided the former pro and Twitch streamer “IWillDominate” (793,000 followers) with luxurious perks:
- there’s “League Unlocked” – which ensures that a player receives all the champions in the game along with numerous skins. He also enjoys significant XP and currency bonuses
- access to the League Partner Discord, where important questions can be answered
- the player receives “additional support” for all his Riot Games accounts, having a more direct line to the devs than the average player
- he mainly has the right to broadcast LCS and Academy Games and then commentate on them. So if someone does not want to listen to the regular casters but prefers their streamer of choice, they can listen to IWillDominate when the top teams of LoL meet in North America
Streamer had built his channel around these rights
That’s why it’s so bitter: The streamer IWillDominate had particularly great success when he commented on the US pro games in LoL. That’s why he is especially frustrated about losing the broadcasting rights now. He says he had specifically geared his channel towards broadcasting and commenting on pro games, and his fans were looking forward to it.
These privileges, to broadcast games, are the one thing he built all his content around.
The site “Blog of Legends” describes IWillDominante as someone who uses an “aggressive, non-stop flaming” style. He commentates the pro games in the same way. While the site criticizes his rough manner, it acknowledges that IWillDominate does important work: As a former pro, he has deep insight into LoL and has insider information due to many friends in the league.
Streamer does not know the exact flame for which he was banned
Why was he banned? The bitter part is: IWillDominate doesn’t really know. It must have been something that violated Riot Games’ rules on Twitter, Twitch, or YouTube.
Riot Games informed him upon inquiry that he had shared “settings or comments” that Riot Games cannot tolerate. There is no room for negotiation. They did not take this decision lightly, and it is final.
Riot Games states that they understand that IWillDominate maintains a brand and voice that might deviate from Riot’s standards. However, he must adhere to the applicable standards. They aim to raise the behavioral standards rather than lower them.
IWillDominate had already been warned, and therefore the expulsion is now in effect. The penalty can only be lifted in June 2021.
IWillDominate is considered a toxic streamer. However, what exactly he was banned for is unclear. One of his latest tweets concerned his colleague, the Twitch streamer Hashinshin, whom IWillDominante referred to as a “confirmed pedophile” who used Twitch to groom children.
Hashinshin has now been permanently banned from Twitch.
Whether IWillDominate was expelled from the partner program for this statement or for something else is unknown.
But it is a sign that even Riot Games is now cracking down harder and punishing even popular streamers who bring them many viewers. This was briefly doubted: One of the most toxic LoL streamers, Tyler1, even said: Riot can’t ban him, they need him.
The streamer IWillDominate is considered hot-headed and often comes into conflict with the rules of League of Legends. In September 2019, he wanted to conduct a 24-hour marathon stream and see how far he could get with a new account. However, in the middle of the record attempt, which many were watching, Riot Games interrupted his tour:
