Alienware pulls LoL sponsorship after sexual harassment allegations

A report says that Alienware will reportedly no longer be a global League of Legends esports partner following sexual harassment allegations made against Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent. 

According to a report at Dot Esports, Alienware is terminating its global esports sponsorship with Riot Games 10 months early. Alienware reportedly cited its concern with Riot Game’s public image following the recent allegations and previous cases where Riot has been caught in the crossfire during other controversies.

The original deal between Alienware and Riot Games included a global partnership in which Alienware would be represented as a sponsor for the LCS, LEC, LCK, LPL, Mid-Season Invitational, and World Championship. The partnership with Alienware has been one of the biggest for LoL Esports, but will now end 10 months before the original date in January 2022. 

“Alienware has been a valuable partner to Riot since January 2019,” Riot said. “We can’t comment on our agreement with them at this time due to confidentiality obligations.”

While nothing has been officially confirmed by Riot Games yet, all Alienware branding has been removed from the competitive League of Legends broadcasts as of last weekend. 

The reason for Alieware’s decision is reported because of recent allegations towards Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent, who was accused of sexual harassment and gender discrimination by former Riot Games executive assistant Sharon O’Donnell. This was brought to light in February and is currently being investigated. 

The absence of Alienware will leave Riot Games short of a big partner in its esports department. Alienware has been a key sponsor since 2019 and has been heavily represented in the LoL Esports scene. It was no more than a couple of months ago that the LEC announced Alienware as its official hardware sponsor for the 2021 season, but that likely won’t be the case moving forward. 

Riot and Alienware are yet to make an official statement on the matter. 

What is Alienware? 

Alienware is an American computer hardware brand owned by Dell and founded in 1996. Alienware’s products are mainly focused on the gaming sector, with computers, monitors, and other hardware being part of its product catalog. Alienware has become widely known for its strange and futuristic designs, but is also a heavily-debated brand because of its fairly high prices.