Riot apologizes for calling Worlds 2021 play-in stage a ‘fiesta,’ says it was meant as an ‘ironic joke’

Riot Games issued an apology after inadvertently referring to the 2021 League of Legends World Championship play-in stage as a “fiesta.”

The developers described the unfortunate wording as “placeholder copy” that was meant as an “ironic joke” due to their “frustration in not being able to support play-ins” with Worlds 2021 Pick’ems.

In a post on Sept. 26, Riot had written: “Play-ins are happening and we don’t support that fiesta. Sit back, relax, and gather up your posse in preparation for the show.” It was later deleted. 

Several notable figures from the community, including esports host Sjokz and commentator Captainflowers, spoke out about the wording, describing it as “disrespectful” and “really odd.”

In a statement on Sept 27, Riot’s director of esports product management Luke Cudney explained: “We all love play-ins here. This year, we overhauled Pick’ems from the ground up. The pivot to Iceland, late changes to the schedule, uncertainty about which teams would qualify plus technical complexity all resulted in our need to remove play-ins from our Pick’ems plans.”

Related: How to play Worlds 2021 Pick’em

“Needless to say, the sentiment reflected in the copy does not reflect our perspective and in fact is just the opposite. We apologize for the mistake,” Cudney added. 

The Worlds 2021 play-in stage features 10 teams from a combination of major and minor regions. It kicks off with a best-of-one match between Hanwha Life and LNG on Oct. 5 at 6am CT.

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