Recently, LoLEsports – the official media channel for League of Legends tournaments under Riot Games, announced the first image of the LCK LPL Mid-Season Event – China-Korea Grand Battle, featuring 8 players representing the 8 teams participating, including:
LPL region:
– Kanavi – JD Gaming
– Knight – TOP Esports
– Doinb – FunPlus Phoenix
– Rookie – Invictus Gaming
LCK region:
– Faker – T1
– Clid – Gen.G Esports
– Deft – DragonX
– Nuguri – DAMWON Gaming.
Immediately after the poster was released, a fierce debate erupted on LoLEsports’ social media pages. There would be nothing to discuss if among the 8 names mentioned, there weren’t 7 players holding… South Korean citizenship.
The international community mocked the fact that LPL still relies heavily on South Korean players, and this tournament poster essentially promotes an expanded LCK event.
Unsurprisingly, these comments have sparked outrage among Chinese netizens. LoLEsports’ Instagram has turned into a battleground for a fierce argument, with Chinese fans striving to prove their point that Chinese players are the key figures in LPL’s two world championship titles.
Evidence includes Ning and Tian being the MVPs of the last two World Championships. Furthermore, the Chinese national League of Legends team won the Gold Medal at the 2018 Asian Games after defeating South Korea.
Additionally, the Chinese League of Legends community is also directing criticism at Riot, questioning why they did not choose Chinese players to represent the region. Tian, Ning, LvMao… are all players who have performed impressively, yet South Korean players are subtly featured on the poster?
In fact, Sohu – a very prestigious forum in China, even published a lengthy article criticizing Riot’s actions, titled: “Why does the official poster of the LCK LPL Mid-Season Event have so many Korean players? It truly hurts the ‘pride’ of the Chinese gaming community.”
Currently, Riot Games has not provided any response to this issue, while the wave of criticism from the Chinese League of Legends community continues to intensify, and there are even signs calling for a boycott against the South Korean players competing in the LPL.