Riot tweaks League of Legends competitive disciplinary measures

League of Legends World Championships1

Riot Games has done a lot this year when it comes to purging League of Legends of its more hostile elements. Now the studio has detailed its new approach to competitive bans.

The notion of 'permaban' has been abandoned in favour of two categories of bans: fixed and indefinite. The former is a fixed ban period which can last for a maximum of two splits (ie, a full competitive season). Once these fixed periods expire they will be reviewed individually.

Meanwhile, indefinite bans are exactly that: players will be required to "meet the highest standard of conduct over a sufficient period of time to be permitted back into the League". Indefinite bans will last for a minimum of one competitive season.

It sounds pretty strict, but League Operations Manager Nick Allen says it's more conducive to reform. "By adopting a new framework for disciplinary action, we’re aiming to give genuinely reformed players a second chance, and make sure that players who violate the Summoner’s Code continue to feel the effects of their actions," Allen wrote.

"Respectful, cooperative, and competitively fair behavior applies to all members of the League of Legends community, and it’s especially important that visible ambassadors of the sport serve as role models for their peers."

Full details on the changes can be seen over here. Riot announced last week that it will roll out rewards for well-behaved players.

Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.

Latest in MOBA
Seekers of Skyveil screenshot
Seekers of Skyveil, the MOBA—extraction shooter mashup, is shutting down less than a month after release: ‘We have no choice but to bring this short journey to an end’
League of Legends promo image - huge dude in a huge suit of armor holding a huge axe
Riot walks back unpopular League of Legends changes: Hextech Chests are coming back, and the Blue Essence cost for new champions will be cut in half
A triptych of views from Deadlock's improved map, showing a suspension bridge backlit by a setting sun, a triumphal arch with buildings in the background, and a leafy park overlooked by distant skyscrapers.
Deadlock gets a massive map overhaul that shrinks its map from four lanes to three: 'This has a large range of accompanying map-wide changes'
Three monsters holding clubs in Dota 2.
As a lapsed 4,500 hour veteran of Dota 2, the big new Wandering Waters update has lured me back—but despite the changes, the game still feels stuck in its ways
Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser revealed in silhouette against a white moon and a blood-red sky.
League of Legends is getting a hotly anticipated skin for its lich necromancer Mordekaiser, but fans' joy has been 'obliterated' because it's 'stuck in a $200 fomo gacha store'
Smite 2 art
Hi-Rez will only be giving 'minor updates' to Smite and Paladins now it's laying off around 70 employees, but don't worry, Smite 2 is the 'primary focus of the newly streamlined operations'
Latest in News
Junah beginning a battle in Metaphor: ReFantazio.
Today's RPG fans are 'very sensitive to feeling like they wasted time' when they die, says Metaphor: ReFantazio battle planner—but Atlus still made combat hard anyway
Image of Cersei Lanniser from Game of Thrones: Kingsroad Steam early access trailer
A new Game of Thrones RPG is coming to Steam today with a cast of 'familiar faces,' which is good because it's really the only way to tell it's a GoT game at all
The new Prime Asset featured in the upcoming update for the Outlast Trials.
The Outlast Trials puts its already paranoid players under surveillance for a time-limited story event
A Viera looking confused in Final Fantasy 14.
Old armor continues to fall victim to Final Fantasy 14's bizarre two-channel dye system, unless you're super into changing the colour of teeny-tiny eyelets: 'Why even bother at this point?'
Starfield: Shattered Space
By the time Bethesda was on Starfield, you'd 'basically get in trouble' for breaking schedule, says former dev: 'A lot of the great stuff within Skyrim came from having the freedom to do what you want'
Otter AI Meeting Agent
As if your work meetings weren't already fun enough, now Otter has a new all-hearing AI agent that remembers everything anyone has said and can join in the discussion