Riot Games Are Taking Criticism Again
After taking heat for their sexist company culture, Riot Games tried to make good by restricting the first two events held in one of their PAX West room’s to “women and non-binary folks who are interested in getting into games professionally.”
To help recruit women into gaming, we held PAX workshops for women and non-binary people. We’re proud of that and stand with Rioters at PAX. Regarding conversations about this, we need to emphasize that no matter how heated a discussion, we expect Rioters to act with respect.
— Riot Games (@riotgames) September 2, 2018
“The first two events of room 613 will be only open to women and nonbinary folks (there might be some exceptions. I will try and post on Twitter the sechedule [sic] everyday),” said Riot Games recruiter Mel “Riot swimbananas” Capperino-Garcia. “However, all the activities of the room will be open to all after 3pm, including the ‘Ask a Rito’ time.”
After facing backlash for the exclusive events, Riot Games systems designer Daniel Z. Klein attracted more controversy by calling the Reddit post that initiated the backlash a “toxic landfill” and called part of the League of Legends community “manbabies.”
In another Reddit thread, users highlighted one of Klein’s comments that told a Twitter user to “fuck off and sea lion somewhere else.”
View Riots Games’ full PAX West plans here.