Riot Games is under fire after seemingly posting an AI video on the Weibo page for Wild Rift. The video, now deleted, celebrates the 3rd anniversary of the mobile game’s launch, but fans weren’t exactly in a party mood after watching the AI creation.
The video, originally posted on Wild Rift China’s Weibo page, emerged to western audiences following a Reddit post by user /u/Winter_underdog, with Reddit users reacting with a mix of anger and disbelief, with one user stating. “The person who greenlighted this needs to get fired ASAP.”
Immediately, users pointed out how strange the trailer looked (and sounded). One frequent talking point was how audience members looked like a completely different art style, not only to the League heroes, but to each other.
Others took umbrage with Jinx seemingly using any weapon other than her signature minigun and rocket launcher, while others criticised the characteristic “dead behind the eyes” AI style.
“This is the worst thing that has happened to League of Legends, and that includes the release of K’sante,” drolly commented another commenter.
Fans react to the AI League of Legends Wild Rift trailer
Fans raised questions as to why Riot would post AI art when League of Legends and Wild Rift are so profitable, especially in China. One user commented, “Why f**k around with AI when you have proper animators? Using this much AI is disrespectful not only for the fans but towards the animation industry.”
Some users refused to believe it was truly connected to Riot, with one user claiming it was “100% fake. Looks like someone told an AI to create a K-pop demon hunters parody with League characters.” The relationship to Netflix’s K-pop hit seems plausible, though impossible to verify.
What could be verified was the existence of the video on the Wild Rift page: “This is getting reported for misleading from people saying it’s fake,” commented the /r/wildrift mod, “But WR China did in fact post this video on their Weibo account. It’s still on the Weibo account if you have access to Weibo and want to verify”
The video was later removed from the account, allegedly as a result of backlash from the community, but don’t worry. The video is still on Reddit if you want to watch it. Why exactly you’d want to? We’re not here to judge.
Darragh Harbinson is an esports writer specialising in Counter-Strike. He has written for Esports News UK, Esports Insider, UKCSGO, Dexerto, and Rush B Media.
