Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill deleted a tweet in a recent back-and-forth conversation with League of Legends streamer Christian “IWillDominate” Rivera. The streamer then called him out, claiming that Merrill is “insulting everyone” who made a career off of the popular MOBA.
After IWillDominate criticized Riot for employing “bad people,” Riot’s co-founder responded by congratulating the streamer on “having a career revolving around the free game” that the company made. Merrill clearly regretted his response, deleting the tweet shortly after, which gave IWillDominate all the ammunition he needed.
During IWillDominate’s stream today, he addressed the exchange between the two.
“So pretty much his tweet is like ‘I made you, bitch. You’d be nothing without me,’” IWillDominate said. “He’s literally just insulting everybody else who made a career off of League of Legends.”
The deleted tweet has been garnering traction since many people see Merrill’s comments to be directly correlated to Riot’s “bro culture” that allegedly encouraged an unsafe workplace.
Esports journalist Duncan “Thorin” Shields chimed in on the Twitter feud.
“Wonder why head Rioters felt entitled to physically abuse employees,” Thorin said. “Could imagine this being both an internal slogan and something they whisper in your ear as they invade your personal space.”
Thorin’s comments likely refer to a number of claims by Riot employees of abuse, sexism, and discrimination in the workplace.
Not everyone joined in on the witch hunt, however. TSM CEO Andy “Reginald” Dinh thanked Merrill for creating a game that’s led to many lucrative ventures.
Reginald, who was one of the first professional League players, has created a multi-million dollar empire thanks to Riot’s game.
IWillDominate is signed with Team Liquid, streaming League regularly on his Twitch channel.
Published: Aug 29, 2019 10:37 am