Riot Games sparks backlash over AI League of Legends trailer

Riot Games and parent company Tencent recently sparked backlash from fans after publishing an AI-generated “League of Legends: Wild Rift” trailer, prompting a statement from Executive Producer David Xu. 

Wild Rift is a free-to-play MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) developed and published by Riot Games for smartphones. However, this should not be confused with the PC version of League of Legends.

To celebrate the game’s third anniversary, Wild Rift China shared the AI-generated trailer featuring popular characters from the renowned franchise, including Aurora, Jinx, Seraphin, Ezreal, and Yasuo.

First allegedly shared on China’s Weibo, the trailer flooded several other social media platforms with users criticizing Riot Games and Tencent for using AI to create it, as they compared it to other beloved animated League of Legends trailers and Netflix’s masterpiece, Arcane.

Riot Games sparks backlash over AI League of Legends trailer

Due to the backlash it received, Riot representatives were forced to take the trailer down. However, this didn’t stop fans from sharing it on Western social media platforms such as X (formerly known as Twitter). Why the backlash?

Gamers have raised concerns about the use of AI in video games due to the lack of its human touch and the possible layoffs of hardworking employees. Second, the trailer’s art style was inconsistent, and the characters featured had off-putting facial expressions.

Moreover, random characters featured in the trailer looked like they were heavily generated using Pixar films as a reference. Several other fans also accused Riot of reportedly using AI for the song featured in the trailer due to its “mediocre and soulless lyrics.”

Executive producer David Xu took to X and wrote, “Hey folks, yesterday we posted a creator-made video on our official Weibo channel that, frankly, did not hit the mark. When we post content on our official channels, it’s on us to maintain a high quality bar and be clear about where it came from. Thank you for all the feedback, we can and will do better.”

One fan wrote in response, “creator made infers they made it and not a machine btw.”

Another added, “I don’t think “hit the mark” is the best choice of words tbh. It’s clearly ai and the fact that it was ok’d and posted shows there’s a lack of care somewhere.”