Riot Games says Sam Bankman-Fried’s love of League of Legends hurts the model

League of Legends developer Riot Games says Sam Bankman-Fried’s affiliation with the sport is hurting the corporate’s picture (via Molly White). In a filing in FTX’s bankruptcy case, Riot Games asks the courtroom to terminate its League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) sponsorship take care of the collapsed crypto trade, citing irreversible “reputational harm.”

Bankman-Fried’s love for gaming entered the highlight following the autumn of FTX, and he turned infamous for enjoying League of Legends (and other games) throughout conferences. In a now-deleted profile of Bankman-Fried posted by enterprise capital agency Sequoia, co-founder Neeraj Arora says he was even playing League of Legends throughout their first assembly over Zoom.

The former billionaire hasn’t been shy about his curiosity in League of Legends, both (regardless that he’s self-admittedly bad on the recreation). He wrote about taking part in League in a lengthy thread on Twitter posted final 12 months, saying: “I play a lot more than you’d expect from someone who routinely trades off sleep vs work. Why? Well, there’s one answer, which is the obvious one. The single most universal thing about LoL is that everyone who plays it says they wish they didn’t.”

“Images of Mr. Bankman-Fried playing League of Legends were displayed alongside text describing his cavalier attitude towards investor meetings and irresponsibility with corporate funds,” the submitting reads. “These images created a public narrative that Mr. Bankman-Fried’s interest in League of Legends, once relatable and human, was now reckless and juvenile.”

According to the submitting, FTX nonetheless owes Riot Games $6.25 million for the time it spent as an LCS sponsor in 2022, however that may enhance to $12.875 million subsequent 12 months. These funds will “escalate each year through 2028,” bringing the deal’s whole worth as much as round $96 million. In addition to allegedly experiencing harm to its model, Riot says it desires to finish the deal now so it might substitute FTX with yet one more crypto sponsor for the 2023 season.

“The reputational harm inflicted upon Riot cannot be undone,” the submitting reads. “FTX cannot go back in time and put in place corporate controls for the safekeeping of customer funds that have in the public eye now been absconded.”