Most games these days have a feature that allows competitors to chat with one another. It is all meant to be handled in good fun. Unfortunately, there are always players that take chat it a bit (or a lot) too far.
League of Legends, often cited as the largest Esport in the world has long had a chat feature. In the latest patch to the game, however, the ability to chat with competing players will be disabled.
Riot Games recently announced the change, citing a rise in cases of abuse as the reason.
The company wrote in a statement, “We know this sucks for those of you who just want to compliment your lane opponent’s skin, or ask for a dance party in Baron pit. But we believe the tradeoff is worth it to cut down on the growing negativity /all chat has been creating in your games.”
The developer also noted that team chat won’t be disabled.
The statement continued, “we’re aware that verbal abuse happens in team chat too, so disabling /all chat won’t get rid of abuse altogether. But team chat also plays an important team coordination function, so the potential value it brings is much higher, even if it can also host some negative experiences.”
You can read the statement in its entirety here.
