Riot Games is updating its Terms and Services on December 1, especially for content creators. There are some important things you may know.
Riot Games has tried to turn its games into safe environments in recent years. Earlier this month, players began receiving information about new updates on Terms of Service - it's normal not to read them. However, these new updates concern the content creator ecosystem to make both player's and creators' experiences better.
"Off-Platform conduct" and behavior connected to our IP
Imagine if you saw your favorite streamer flaming and saying hateful slurs at another person because they didn't play as he wanted to - he could get a penalty for that. Riot explains they want to "protect players from harmful behaviors" and give "penalties in-game when that content is brought to our attention". The company says they're not monitoring every single content creator on the Internet. They will be more cautious about what type of experience these creators bring to the game and the people watching them.
TL;DR - If you say or do things that break our Terms of Service while broadcasting or creating content about our games, we can restrict access to your Riot accounts (and suspend your Partner privileges if you are part of our Partner Program).
Content creators that promote breaking Riot Games' Terms of Service
Sponsorship and content related to boosting services and buying/selling accounts will now be subject to penalty. If the content creator sponsors a website to boost your account or promote a way to sell the account or buy a new one much higher in rank, there will be consequences. Riot Games will monitor videos, posts, social media accounts, and casual conversations on streaming platforms about this matter.
TL;DR - Don’t do anything that encourages or teaches players how to break our rules, whether formally or casually.
Related articles
Stream-snipping content creators is not cool and Riot Games is aware of that
Riot Games is also interested in making content creators safe and sound in their games. It's awful for content creators when they aren't able to play a game because a player is stream-snipping. It's frustrating when people just know your team's position every time. This problem has been communicated to Riot Games various times. The company announced they're still working on detecting this problem and giving penalties to the ones involved.
The first measure was announced in 2021 when Riot started recording comms in VALORANT to detect disruptive behavior. They also announced this year they would form a team to analyze voice and text comms in English (for now) to point toxicity in VALORANT, but it's still in the testing phases.
TL;DR - Riot will soon™ take reports and action on cases of players who stream snipe our creators.
Restrict access to all of a player’s Riot accounts for particularly serious violations of Riot's Terms of Service
This is basic: Riot wants to keep punishing players with repetitive disruptive behavior. "We want our frames to be fun and welcoming to everyone, but sometimes bad actors do particularly bad things," they write. The goal is to break the cycle of toxicity in their games. "So, for the rare occasion, a seriously egregious violation occurs, we’re now including Riot-wide bans in our penalty system."
TL;DR - problematic behavior in one game may result in penalties across all of our games.
When are these updates coming out?
Riot Games' new updates on content creators will go live on December 1. However, some content creators will need to adapt and analyze their content. Riot Games is giving them until Jan 3rd, 2025 to adjust their content to adhere to these rules.
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