Riot Games Disables /all Chat In 'League Of Legends' - Engadget

AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

Trending:

• The Samsung Galaxy Z Trifold will cost $2,900
• UpScrolled capitalizes on TikTok problems
• Apple launches new AirTag
• EU opens Grok investigation
• Apple could unveil Gemini-powered Siri in Feb.
• Watch The Super Mario Galaxy Movie trailer
• How to check if your VPN is working
• TurboTax Deluxe has been discounted to $45 ahead of tax season
• What to expect at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026

Online games are rife with toxic behavior that can ruin the experience for players who just want to have fun. In an effort to curb verbal abuse in League of Legends, Riot Games has decided to disable /all chats for publicly matchmade games — temporarily, at least. The feature gives players a way to communicate with the opposing team and can be a source of fun banter. Game director Andrei Van Roon and lead game producer Jeremy Lee wrote in their announcement, though, that at the moment, negative interactions outweigh the positives due to the rise of in-game verbal abuse this year.

Teams will still see the other's emotes and CTRL+1-2-3-4 spam, and the change doesn't affect the chat function between allies at all. Riot knows there's still verbal abuse going on within team chats, and that the move won't eliminate the behavior from the game completely. The developer deems team chats too important to disable, however, since that's what people use to strategize and coordinate their actions.

According to Polygon, the reaction to the change has mostly been negative, with people mentioning the fun experiences they've had bonding with players from opposing teams. Some even claim that most toxic behavior happens within team chats instead. van Roon has since clarified on Twitter that the plan is to test the change for a couple of patches, starting with patch 11.21, and then ask players for feedback. Riot could choose to keep or reverse the change based on the feedback it gets, though it could also keep it in some regions where the response to it is largely positive

If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.

Advertisement

• About our ads

AdvertisementAdvertisementSubscribe to our newsletter:The Morning After - A twice-weekly dose of the news you needBy subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms andPrivacy Policy.SubscribeBy subscribing, you are agreeing to Engadget's Terms andPrivacy Policy.