Plagiarism is one of the cardinal sins in the art world, and unfortunately for some artists, they can fall victim from the most surprising sources. In that vein, League of Legends fans recently accused Riot Games of copying some fan art for a new batch of Wild Rift icons.
In Wild Rift‘s Patch 4.4, Riot will be adding some new champion icons for players to use, including a pair of pictures of Zyra and Evelynn. Some members of the community immediately recognized the art in the photos, and allege that Riot has taken it, changed some of the features, and are now selling the icons in the game.
Later on, another member of the community claimed that the original artists never consented to the use of their art as official icons in the game, and that they supposedly contacted the company to discuss a possible solution. This, however, wouldn’t be the first time that Riot has used fan art without the consent of the artist in game assets.
In 2021, Riot was accused of using art from multiple different artists to create a “Playful Pup” emote for League, which was eventually dealt with by devs. Former game director Jonathan “Bellissimoh” Belliss also acknowledged the mistake, and said that Riot works with multiple external artists when creating icons.
As a result, there is a possibility that some artists pass off other work as their own and attempt to send it off to Riot. The company hasn’t responded to the allegations yet, but fans should expect a statement and possibly a removal of the icons soon.
Patch 4.4 is scheduled to release on Wild Rift‘s live servers today, on Wednesday, Oct. 25.
