G2A labels Riot ban as an ‘aggressive attack’ on eSports

Riot’s decision to block advertising from select key resellers at the 2015 League of Legends World Championships has been heavily criticised by G2A.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Riot had ordered teams at the event to pull all sponsored branding for the retailer. The move concerned a disagreement over the sale of LoL accounts and boosting packs.

PCGamesN reports that G2A has now called the move an aggressive attack directed towards the entire global e-sports community in a failed attempt to dominate and control the industry” with the ability to impact negatively on eSporters, especially during this fabulous time when hopes are so high for great e-sports events”.

The retailer added that it attempted to find many friendly ways” to reach an agreement with Riot, but that its efforts were met with more and more demands”.

It also stressed that it has invested in the region of $6m into eSports since 2014.

Riot’s J Eckert said earlier this weekthat the studio currently doesn’t intend to lift the ban and that it isn’t going to compromise our values on that one in the sake of preserving the sponsorships”.

Added Eckert: This was NOT a decision we made lightly, and came after many weeks of back and fourth 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.”