Some fans called the AI use “uncanny” and “disgusting,” pointing to animation flaws and obvious mistakes in how the champions were rendered and animated.
Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends (LoL) and League of Legends: Wild Rift, is facing backlash from fans following accusations of using generative AI to produce Wild Rift China’s third anniversary video. The video was published on Weibo, and reposted on the official Wild Rift subreddit by Winter_underdog on 4 August. The post has since been taken down on Weibo due to heavy backlash from Chinese and international fans.
Fans spot bizarre mistakes on the Wild Rift Anniversary video
The video in question featured Jinx, Seraphine, Aurora, Yasuo, and Ezreal getting ready to perform onstage for Wild Rift’s third anniversary. As soon as Jinx stood up, the AI-generated errors began to appear, such as Yasuo’s short, spiky hair, Aurora’s hair length changing between frames, and later on, a tail inexplicably attached to her mid-back.
When the minions arrived, Redditors also spotted Jinx wielding what appeared to be a 1911 pistol. Meanwhile, Seraphine, typically a ranged AP champion, was shown fighting in melee, kicking monsters left and right. “That’s just melee crit Seraphine, currently the highest win rate jungle pick,” quipped Redditor SardonicRelic in another related thread.
In addition, Fishbones, Jinx’s signature rocket launcher, made an appearance but fired like a regular SMG or even a flamethrower.
A muscular, tattooed character with spiky red hair also appeared in the video. He didn’t resemble any existing League of Legends champion, so fans speculated he was a mix between Sett and Draven. Redditors like Interloper0691 also claimed the song used in the music video was allegedly AI-generated.
Beyond the visual mistakes fans pointed out, others had strong opinions about the overall use of AI.
“You should be mad about this whether it looks good or not,” said Redditor Kazoid13. “Riot is the richest video game company in history, known specifically for their hiring of artists and producing amazing cinematics. This is disgusting.”
Backlash from content creators were as strong
On X (formerly Twitter), the backlash has been just as strong, with some LoL content creators being very vocal about their opinions on the video. LoL partner @Charleemanderz pointed out how Ezreal, an AD Carry, wasn’t using ranged attacks but was instead punching minions to death with lightsabers.
“WTF, HOW IS THIS REAL, “ DumbsYT said in his repost. Meanwhile, Necrit, one of LoL’s most popular lore-related content creators, simply reposted with a gif:
This wasn’t the first time that Riot was accused of using AI. Two years, ago, a video for the tenth year anniversary for LoL Esports in Latin America was flagged by players for obvious use of AI, with various scenes turning fans into animals or monsters, and more.
GosuGamers has reached out to Riot Games for comments on the matter.
