Riot Games is facing criticism after releasing a third anniversary trailer for League of Legends: Wild Rift that appears to have been created using generative AI. The video, which featured characters like Jinx, Yasuo, Seraphine, Ezreal, and Aurora, was uploaded to the Chinese platform Weibo before being quietly removed following a wave of negative feedback from fans.
The trailer quickly went viral for all the wrong reasons. Characters displayed distorted features, strange eye movements, and inconsistent designs. One moment, Draven’s hair appeared brown, then suddenly auburn. Misspellings such as “3nd Aniversary” and awkward slogans on character outfits raised even more suspicion. Voice syncing was poor, and the lyrics in the K-pop-inspired track failed to match the characters singing on screen. The animation style, meant to resemble past successes like K/DA and Remix Rumble, came across as low-quality and unsettling to many viewers.
Social media erupted with confusion and frustration. One Reddit user called it a “League of Legends fever dream,” while another said, “This is so ugly. They made them AI ugly.” On Twitter, a popular post referred to the trailer as “diabolical,” questioning how such content made it past Riot’s internal approval.
The community’s reaction appears to have forced Riot and parent company Tencent to take the video down. A moderator on the Wild Rift subreddit confirmed that it was removed after Chinese fans voiced strong opposition. While neither company has issued an official statement, the disappearance of the trailer has done little to calm growing concerns about the role of AI in the gaming industry.
This incident is not isolated. Tencent recently released another Wild Rift cinematic generated by AI that was met with similar disapproval. Recently, other companies have also come under fire. Ark: Aquatica was criticized for publishing an entirely AI-made trailer. The Alters faced backlash after using AI to translate in-game text, even leaving prompts visible in the final product. Activision acknowledged the use of AI in promotional material for Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and players identified AI-generated content in the marketing for the game InZoi.
On the Black Ops 6 loading screen, the character Zombie Santa, also known as ‘Necroclaus,’ appears with six fingers. AI often struggles with recreating hands.
While developers and publishers continue exploring AI tools to speed up production or cut costs, the backlash from players, artists, and voice actors has grown louder. Many fear that increased reliance on AI could reduce creative quality and eliminate jobs in the industry. Some companies are pushing back. Mojang, the studio behind Minecraft, has stated it will not use AI in its development pipeline. NieR director Yoko Taro warned earlier this year that developers could lose work as AI adoption spreads.
As companies weigh the risks and rewards of AI, the message from fans remains clear. Players are demanding authenticity, not shortcuts.
Ai is going to be doing a lot more of this.