Riot Games is cracking down on players’ off-platform conduct

Riot Games added some new clauses to its Terms of Service that could put some players in hot water for unbecoming behavior that occurs “across the various places that touch their gaming experience.” Players can face penalties, suspensions and even “Riot-wide bans” if they are caught violating these new rules.

The new clauses first appeared on Riot’s Privacy Notice and TOS on Tuesday. Creators have until January 3, 2025 “to adjust their content to adhere to these rules,” according to Riot Games’ announcement.

The new “Off-Platform conduct” rule gives Riot Games the right to issue game penalties when hateful content is brought to their attention. The new clause says Riot Games won’t proactively search for social media for violations. Instead, players can report cases about an offending player’s conduct on a livestream in which one of its games serves as “the background of the content produced.” If Riot determines that the player violated its TOS, Riot could issue a penalty “as if that behavior occurred in-game,” according to the TOS.

The new TOS rules also focus on “stream sniping” in which streamers and players hijack or interrupt another stream’s online sessions. The penalty system for these infractions are still in the “early testing phases” using a limited number of English-speaking Valorant creators.

Repeat offenders of these and other infractrations could result in complete bans from all Riot Games accounts. The new TOS states that Riot can issue multiple penalties and bans for streamers and players who commit “a seriously egregious violation” or “problematic behavior.”

Riot Games has dedicated a lot of time recently to discussing and exploring ways to rein in offensive and ill behavior in its games. Valorant studio head and Riot Games Senior Vice President Anna Donlon acknowledged in May that Riot “absolutely needs to do better” to protect its players laying out new actions they planned to take such as implementing new penalties and increasing support for manual reviews of reports, according to Eurogamer.

Twitch has also taken steps to curb some of its users’ disturbing and damaging behavior. Last year, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced new terms for the streaming platform during the opening ceremony for TwitchCon in Las Vegas. The new rules established suspensions and bans for streamers who dox or swat other players and the ability for streamers and moderators to anonymously send warnings to chatters who commit bad behavior during sessions.

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