The shutdown request stands, however
TheLeague of Legendscommunity has been simmering for a little while over Riot’s request to shut a fan project down—specifically, the way in which it was handled. Now, the company is saying it is “disappointed” in how it was handled, though it’s still asking for development to end.
“Chronoshift” is afan projectthat seeks to launch a “legacy server” for oldLeague of Legends, recreating the game as it was a decade or so ago. Last Friday, a member of the team posted aDiscord conversationthey claim took place between themselves and a Riot employee, “Riot Zed,” who threatened legal action and made some odd statements. “You’ve obviously put a lot of work into Chronoshift, but I assure you that the Chronobreakis coming,” they say at one point.
The Chronoshift team expressed its disappointment with the way this was handled. In a statement, it says the team has never distributed copyright material, and the project has not interacted with the live game or accounts. “We have been working on this project for almost [five] years and thousands of hours,” the team saidin its statement. “We never asked for even as much a donation during all of this time, paying all of the expenses out of our pockets. We have refused and banned people that offered us thousands of dollars to gain access to the project.”
Riot confirmed the legitimacy of the shutdown request in a statement toEurogamer, saying its legal counsel has sent the Chronoshift team a formal letter requesting they cease development. Riot also cited a warning from a Riot employeemade in the replies of the project’s announcementa year ago, as well as section three of itslegal guidelines. “We understand the Chronoshift team is disappointed, but they shouldn’t be surprised by our request,” Riot told Eurogamer.
The company did, however, also comment on Riot Zed’s handling of the situation. “Regarding the exchange with Riot Zed, we’re disappointed with the tenor of the conversation and we’ll be addressing this internally,” said the company’s statement. “We often attempt good faith reach-outs prior to issuing legal documentation. In this case, however, given the Chronoshift team’s response, we have proceeded through more formal channels.”
That seems to be the end of it, as the Chronoshift team hasannounced the end of its project. It was a messy way for this promising fan project to go; speaking as someone who played a lot of that older version ofLeague of Legends, I’ve been hoping for a legacy project for a while now. I’d like to hold onto hope that something could happen to right all of this, but given thefraught history of fan projects and copyright, I’m not holding my breath.
