Riot Games has issued a public apology through the League of Legends Twitter account following the overwhelmingly negative reception of the Season 2023 cinematic. Many players felt that the short video did little to promote League of Legends in any meaningful way while also failing to build hype for the upcoming ranked season.The cinematic traditionally released prior to the start of each League of Legends ranked season aims to inspire the game's player base, traditionally featuring large-scale battles between some of Runeterra's strongest forces while an original soundtrack plays. Though there is much to look forward to for League of Legends' 2023, the most recent trailer for the game does very little to reflect recent updates, such as new items, jungle companions, and champions. The Season 2023 cinematic is just over half as long as that of the previous season, and has been criticized worldwide for not containing much at all - the footage simply follows a butterfly through Summoner's Rift as a voiceover plays.Following the community's negative response to the cinematic, Riot Games has taken to Twitter to issue a public apology, citing "unprecedented circumstances" as the reason for the alternative approach to this year's trailer, which has a notably different tone from those that came before it. Acknowledging that the short video "missed the mark," Riot goes on to state that it should have been more communicative about the issues the company was facing with regard to the cinematic, and that further news on the future of the game will come in the following days as the League of Legends 2023 Competitive Season gets underway.
League of Legends has had a rough 2023 so far, with recent budget cuts in the American League Championship Series (LCS) and the termination of the contracts of several historied onscreen talents garnering criticism from fans. Even the much-requested rework of League of Legends' most annoying cat has been met with criticism from players, who believe Riot is balancing Yuumi with a design philosophy that will ensure she remains frustrating to play against. Acknowledging the recent disappointment and uncertainty about the future of the game, Riot went on to promise that they remain invested in League of Legends, but that they need to do a better job at sharing future plans with the community.
The future of League of Legends certainly remains uncertain compared to the attention given to Riot's more recent titles, such as the frequent new maps of Valorant and skin line cinematics of League of Legends: Wild Rift. However, Riot promising to give players an update on what the future of the game looks like over the coming days will leave some League of Legends players hopeful.
League of Legends is available now for PC and Mac.