An ex-professional footballer (that’s soccer, not the egg-kind) has convinced a Dutch court that Riot Games based a League of Legends character upon his likeness without his consent.
According to Het Parool (via PC Gamer), Edgar Davids filed a complaint stating LoL’s Striker Lucian skin looked too much like him owing to similarities of the character’s “skin color, hair, muscular posture, aggressive playstyle and well-known sports goggles” (as translated by Google). The judge agreed with him, confirming that Davids had a right to protect his likeness.
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Unfortunately for Riot, an ex-QA of the studio stated on Twitter “for all you wondering, Striker Lucian was inspired by soccer pro Edgar Davids,” which – let’s face it – pretty much dispels any doubt.
The tweet – originally made in June 2014 – has since been deleted, and the original poster has locked down their account, but it was nevertheless enough to convince the court.
The interim judgement confirmed Davids contacted Riot in 2015, requesting that they to stop using his likeness. Despite their defense that it was unlikely fans would mistake the fictional character for the real-life Davids, Riot were unsuccessful, and have now been instructed to disclose to the court how much the Striker Lucian skin has earned the studio. From there, auditors will assess how much compensation the footballer is owed.
Invasion is the newest game mode coming to League of Legends, and it’s possibly the most ambitious one yet. Launching alongside the newest set of Star Guardian skins, Invasion comes with a new map, new announcer, and a whole load of scary, scary beasties to take on.