Riot’s upcoming Summoner name update has VALORANT and League of Legends fans dreading the Nov. 20 transition. From that date on, players will only be able to change their name once every 365 days or pay a small fee to make an edit to their Riot ID—and players aren’t happy.
The impending update sent the VALORANT community into a headspin today. Players were left baffled after learning of the approaching $10 USD price tag and questioned why Riot wouldn’t follow the same methods other rival titles subscribe to.
Some fans flamed Riot in Reddit threads, pointing to titles owned by Valve like Dota 2 and CS2 as the gold standard in the gaming industry for the name change system. Players seemingly want to be able to change their name as they please, and Riot’s incoming update is set on ensuring that’s not possible.
Previously players could change their game name every 30 days. However, from Nov. 20, this will be a thing of the past as Summoner names transition to Riot IDs—a supposed all-in-one solution covering every Riot title.
Riot pinned the change on the idea the “Summoner name doesn’t sync with the lore and hasn’t for a while,” alongside multiple other reasons in an Oct. 16 blog post. However, this particular line within the lengthy update rubbed players the wrong way.
The community was confused as to why Riot would use lore as a rationale. Other valid causes were overshadowed by this line of reasoning, according to players, with “lore” used as an excuse when in reality they believe Riot is just making an extra cash grab. Players called the move “super disappointing” and claimed it ruined fun aspects tied to frequent and topical name changes.
Certain rival FPS titles allow their players to change their names as much as they want—even mid-game. VALORANT gamers noted that this change also heavily impacts aspiring pro players, and they believe Riot’s competitor Valve understands this issue a whole lot better.
Amateur players sometimes switch from team to team, and this change inadvertently punishes these types of gamers who may need to adjust their names to suit a new squad. Here’s hoping Riot has considered the esports side of the community before implementing this change.
Riot still has time to backtrack on this decision based on the response from concerned fans. But until then, it seems players only have a short time before they’re locked into their Riot ID for a full year.
