Riot Games is accusing Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s CEO, of hurting their brand image after being accused of fraud. Riot Games is the developer of League of Legends, one of the biggest online video games in the world. Interestingly, Sam Bankman-Fried’s favorite video game was League of Legends. Because of how things developed during November and December, Riot Games is asking the court to terminate the deal between the FTX exchange and the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS). This deal, according to Riot Games, has been the source of irreversible reputational harm for the brand.
SBF was a passionate League of Legends player, and he was proud of it. He constantly posted pictures and tweets in which he would mention the video game. Additionally, Bankman-Fried was caught playing League of Legends, and other games, during important meetings as well. In one of his tweets, SBF mentions the fact that he is “(in)famous” for playing League of Legends while on calls. In another tweet, Bankman-Fried also claimed that, although he loves the game, he wishes he never started playing it.
Riot Games Cuts Ties With FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried
At the time of these tweets, this publicity was good for Riot Games. Not so long after the tweets, Riot Games got a deal with FTX, SBF’s company. According to the agreement these two companies reached, the FTX exchange would sponsor LCS for the next seven years. Well, just a year after this deal, the FTX empire crumbled under its feet. Just some days ago, U.S. authorities charged SBF with money laundering, fraud, and 6 other charges. Thus, Riot Games is looking to cut all connections it has to FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried.
Images of Mr. Bankman-Fried playing League of Legends were displayed alongside text describing his cavalier attitude towards investor meetings and irresponsibility with corporate funds.
– Riot Games Team