Mar 19, 2024

Another report of a scandal surrounding the massively popular PC MOBA pops up in just a week right after the most recent major League of Legends controversy was settled.

Sebastian Rotterdam, manager of the German professional League of Legends team Meet Your Makers (MYM), gets fired after he was found to have threatened a player in an effor t to keep the player from quitting the squad.

MYM announced through a post on their Facebook page that Rotterdam had been “released” from the team, though the group later explains the situation more bluntly, saying he was “fired.” They explained the drama in clear detail and what MYM is doing to prevent future problems like this.

MYM says it will conduct heart to heart talks with its players and a neutral party with the goal of understanding management areas that need improvement. The team also hopes it will be able to more proactively identity similar issues going forward as a result of the discussions.

“We’ve always trusted our managers to do what’s best for the players and exercise discretion in their decision making. In this instance, our trust has been abused,” MYM said. They added that they aim to go forward and from then on, they will hold regular group  discussions with the players and management, to iron out any issues that may come along. Management will also need to ask for approval from the CEO for any decisions involving player changes so that ultimate responsibility lies with CEO Khaled Naim.”

The Daily Dot was the first to report on the scandal. Richard Lewis, Editor of the Daily Dot wrote that Rotterdam threatened a player looking to leave the team by saying he would make sure the player’s mother–who apparently signed his contract–“would lose the house” she lives in.

Rotterdam later apologized for his remarks, saying it was a “big mistake” to say such things. He also said he would be willing to step down from his position as a result of the fallout, something he’s now done.

This is the second League of Legends scandal to come to light in as many weeks.

Last week, a Philippines-based eSports organization drew controversy concerning new League of Legends rules that stipulated a team would be limited to one gay or transgender woman per squad over fears that they “probably have some unfair advantage.” The group, Garena, has since apologized and changed course.