Riot Games Considers Banning G2A from Sponsoring League of Legends Teams
Riot Games is thinking about banning G2A from sponsoring professional League of Legends teams. This decision has put the game key reseller in a difficult situation.
G2A got into trouble with Riot Games because it listed services from a third party that sells League accounts and offers elo boosting services. These actions are direct violations of the Riot Games terms of service and the League Championship Series rulebook.
As requested by Riot, teams sponsored by G2A, including Cloud9, Counter Logic Gaming, H2K, and paiN Gaming, have removed G2A’s logos from their merchandise at the 2015 League of Legends World Championships.
G2A has informed the teams that if it fails to settle its disputes with Riot, it will end its sponsorship altogether.
This would be the second key reseller this year to step back from big sponsorship deals. Kinguin recently dropped sponsorship from Fnatic, Team SoloMid, Nihilum, Enemy, and more due to a corporate restructuring. It also sold its Counter-Strike: Global Offensive squad to Gamers2, but later signed an exclusive sponsorship deal with the organization.
G2A’s future is still uncertain and Riot has not announced when it will make its decision.
Update 2:30pm CT, Oct. 6: A Riot staffer has confirmed this report in a comment on Reddit. J. “Riot Sargonas” Eckert said the company was formally banned on Sept. 18 and that Riot has “no plans to reconsider the decision at this time.”
In regards to this decision, Eckert added:
“This was NOT a decision we made lightly, and came after many weeks of back and forth conversations with G2A to find a resolution, which we were not able to reach an agreement on. We do not at all enjoy affecting the income of the teams, but the LCS rules include guidelines specifically against this sort of thing. We did however keep teams in the loop during the process in an attempt to avoid any surprises.”
Related keywords: Riot Games, G2A, League of Legends, esports, sponsorship, professional teams.