On June 7, Faker received his Hall of Legends award and was formally announced as the inaugural League of Legends inductee. But it was already obviously damaged, and fans are naturally upset.
A video of Faker accepting and celebrating the trophy in Seoul was widely disseminated by news sites. Some took closer images of the prize, and it appears to have a crack-like damage on the side. Furthermore, one side appears damaged, as if it collapsed during transportation. These flaws quickly made it to social media platforms like Reddit, where fans voiced their disgust with the trophy’s state.
“Not much more needs to be stated. […] One of the most popular comments says, “Disrespectful and embarrassing, but that is kinda where riots have been heading for a while.”
Others criticized the League developer for scamming off gamers with a $450 skin bundle while failing to sponsor a high-quality, undamaged trophy. “We could not purchase a high-quality trophy before milking the Ahri skin,” one fan remarked. “Sir, the trophy has dents and scratches. Who cares? “The skins will sell nonetheless,” another said.
Fortunately for Riot, the firm discovered the trophy’s damage during the presentation and eventually provided Faker with a replacement that showed no evidence of damage. “The Korea Riot crew saw it was broken after we handed it to him and replaced it with a spare one we had. So the one Faker actually owns now should be perfect looking,” RiotSakaar explained on Reddit.
Nonetheless, the community’s reaction should come as no surprise. After demanding hundreds of dollars for a couple of skins and cosmetics and refusing to back down, the corporation only gave fans more to mock. Despite Faker receiving a new trophy, the U.S. developer’s fortunes remain bleak.