In the case of League of Legends, however, a truly bizarre instance of bad behavior emerged last week when the game’s developer, Riot Games, terminated an employee for acting in a toxic manner himself. Further complicating things was the fact that the employee in question, Aaron Rutledge, was actually partially involved in the developer’s efforts to reduce poor player behavior online. Rutledge caught up with Glixel to discuss the backlash he received from the community, and his apology:
Rutledge, who was drunk at the time he made disparaging statements about League of Legends streamer Tyler1, also added that he believes he has a drinking problem and will now be checking himself into rehab. Although it’s a sad situation, Rutledge appears optimistic about his future in the industry, as well as thankful that the incident was at least able to help him identify a personal problem he needed help in dealing with.
For League of Legends and its ongoing battle with toxicity, however, the incident still comes as a major blow. The game has already garnered a reputation for having a less-than-ideal online community, and with millions of dollars in sponsorships and investments sunk into the future of League of Legends, its public image remaining decent is a huge priority for Riot Games.
League of Legends is available now for PC and Mac.
Source: Glixel
