LoL Season 2 playoffs ended this weekend mired in the thick, sticky gloop of rumour and accusation, at the bottom of which was a spectator minimap reportedly visible to teams during play. Riot have since responded to acknowledge a share of the blame, and to reassure fans that an investigation has been launched.
“In hindsight, the potential visibility of minimap screens for players was a mistake,” said Riot’s VP of eSports, Dustin Beck. “Despite on-site referees, close monitoring of player cams backstage, and stage design that ensured players would have to turn more than 90 degrees to be able to catch a glimpse of the minimaps, even the possibility of unfair play was simply unacceptable. We’re taking steps to ensure the minimap screens are not visible to players.
“We are re-examining photos, videos and renders of the stage layout to definitively understand sight lines between the players on-stage and the minimaps overhead. We’re taking it a step further moving forward to completely ensure the screens aren’t visible to players.”
Riot are investigating two separate minimap-enabled incidents – firstly, the period Reginald highlighted at the beginning of the TSM/Azubu game in which the game was paused to sort mic issues, necessitating a match restart, and secondly, a turn towards the minimap screen by one of Team WE’s players during their match with CLG.eu.
“Forward-facing camera angles can be misleading and we want to make sure everyone has the full picture before drawing any conclusions,” added Beck. “This is something that we believe requires a comprehensive investigation but we absolutely understand why it’s cause for alarm.”
Did you watch the TSM/Azubu match? Let us know your own impressions of what went down in the comments.