In an unexpected twist of events, Invictus Gaming’s League of Legends jungler Lu “Leyan” Jue has been suspended for two matches and heavily fined after behaving inappropriately by engaging with a big teddy bear in a recent livestream. Riot Games, the developer and publisher of League of Legends, cracked down on the professional player with a fine of almost $7,000 (¥49,000) and a two-match disqualification.
The controversial incident
The event under discussion was when Leyan was online, and he was caught on camera, hurling his buttocks at the chair-sized Lotso Bear, which was a stuffed toy from the movie Toy Story 3. It did not take long for this film clip to be circulated all around the globe, leading to profound widespread criticism in the League of Legends community.
The attitude of Leyan wasn’t convincing either when he tried to portray being just “rocking out” with the gigantic stuffed toy and called it all a joke for a while. Riot Games and Invictus Gaming took action immediately, assuming a behavior like that wasn’t appropriate in the professional e-sports scene for them.
Consequences and Reactions
Besides the heavy fine and ban from the league, Invictus Gaming also took other unfair actions towards Leyan, He got his salary reduced for two months as the consequence of what he did. At the time the Chinese social media platform Weibo was identified, warning the public about the weight of the situation and insisting that professional players are supposed to do their best to demonstrate ethical behavior.
“As public figures, e-sports players’ words and deeds represent the image of the club and the e-sports industry. Active professional players should be more cautious in their words and deeds in public and set a good example. The club will continue to strengthen internal management, require players to regulate their own behavior, maintain a positive image of professional players, and jointly maintain a healthy and benign e-sports professional ecological environment.”
The event certainly outbid many controversies within the League of Legends community, where some players are offended, while to others the issue is funny. A particular Reddit user had a funny comment, “God, you only lost one series out of this whole split which is against this little old bear teddy-fucker”
Professionalism Maintenance
As the esports industry keeps on increasing in number and getting the recognition of the masses, every single incident like this heads a bitter reminder of the need for players to maintain a high degree of standard decorum and to behave as appropriate public figures.
Riot games as well as the teams like Invictus Gaming are setting an example by laying down the strict rules against such misconduct, proving their adherence to the ethics, and the spirit of sportsmanship in the League of Legends esports.
However, the payoff for Leyan may seem much more severe, it shows how important to create clear lines and principles for professional game players, who are the leaders of the process and the face of the whole industry.
