Riot Games sues Vietnamese gamemaker over League of Legends copy

Riot Games has filed a lawsuit against Vietnamese game maker Imba Technology. According to Riot Games, the developer is copying characters, text and other properties from League of Legends for its game I Am Hero: AFK Tactical Teamfight.

The suit was filed by Riot Games in the Los Angeles District Court last week and discovered Monday by Reuters. According to Riot Games, the game borrows characters from League of Legends, among other things. In addition, the title would refer to spin-off Teamfight Tactics.

That is why the publisher wants the judge to prohibit Imba from selling the game. Riot Games said it submitted a request to Imba in December to stop selling the game. Imba would not have responded to that.

Imba spokesman Anh Le told Reuters that I Am Hero: AFK Tactical Teamfight is different from League of Legends. In addition, they have previously made adjustments to the game, after accusations. Riot Games has ignored these changes, Le said.

It happens more often that game makers of mobile games in particular are sued because, according to the prosecutor, they copy too much from other games. For example, in 2019 Blizzard filed a similar lawsuit against a Chinese game maker who allegedly borrowed elements from Warcraft for his game Glorious Saga.