Riot tries to explain hesitance to name Hong Kong Attitude at Worlds
Riot Games is attempting to distance themselves from controversy as the company explains their reasoning for seemingly censoring casters from using the phrase “Hong Kong.”
Worlds 2019 casters seem to be avoiding referring to the pro team Hong Kong Attitude by their full title and instead are using their abbreviation HKA. Some in the LoL community believe this is because Riot Games is owned by Tencent.
Tencent is a Chinese conglomerate company that has investments in other game studios including Activision Blizzard and Epic Games. Tencent has taken a pro-China stance in relation to the Hong Kong protests, leading some to believe that the company is influencing Riot Games to censor any mention of the region.
Riot Games communications lead Ryan Rigney released an official statement regarding the situation.
“We refer to their team interchangeably by both their full name and their tricode abbreviation HKA, as we routinely do with all of the teams in our ecosystem,” Rigney said.
Most other teams are referred to by both their full and abbreviated names during the caster roundtables, but HKA is never mentioned by its full name. Casters have stumbled a few times when referring to the team, beginning with “Hong Kong-” only to hastedly return to the abbreviation.
Hong Kong citizens are protesting for further autonomy from China and for the preservation of democratic freedoms. These protests expanded to the esports scene when Hearthstone pro Ng “Blitzchung” Wai Chung shouted the protest slogan “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of our times.”
Blitzchung was banned and his prize money revoked. The Hearthstone community was sent into an uproar following the incident. Many fans chose to boycott Blizzard and accused the company of appeasing their Tencent investors.
Riot Games doesn’t want to repeat this mistake. Global head of League of Legends esports John Needham issued a public message stating that both casters and players have been instructed not to discuss any provocative topics while on air.
“We serve fans from many different countries and cultures, and we believe this opportunity comes with a responsibility to keep personal views on sensitive issues (political, religious, or otherwise) separate,” Needham said.
Read Also
Esports Betting
FEARX vs Dplus 2026 LCK Cup playoffs: Preview, betting tips & predictions
Hannan Mundia
FEARX and Dplus KIA will compete in the 2026 LCK Cup lower bracket final to determine which team will face Gen.G in the grand final, and this betting preview highlights all of the important details about this upcoming match. While FEARX and Dplus KIA both went into this split as the underdogs, the two teams have surprised many with their performances since. Reaching the top three in a competitive region ...
Esports Betting
LYON vs Team Liquid 2026 LCS Lock-In predictions, key stats, odds & more
Hannan Mundia
LYON and Team Liquid are slated to face off in the 2026 LCS Lock-In playoffs, and this betting preview highlights the stats and form behind both teams to help you make more accurate predictions and picks. Despite the subpar performance of both teams in the Swiss stage, Team Liquid and LYON have seemingly bounced back in the playoffs. Both teams comfortably won their lower bracket quarterfinals matches without giving a ...
Esports Betting
GIANTX vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Versus: Preview, predictions
Hannan Mundia
GIANTX may have lost against Karmine Corp once already in the 2026 LEC Versus playoffs, but the team has another shot now at victory in the lower bracket semifinals, and this betting preview aims to help you predict exactly how things will go. After Karmine Corp comfortably beat GX in the upper bracket quarterfinals, both teams will meet on the big stage one more time. With a spot in the ...
Esports Betting
G2 Esports vs MKOI 2026 LEC Versus playoffs: Preview, picks
Hannan Mundia
After two impressive playoff wins, G2 Esports and MKOI are slated to face off in the 2026 LEC Versus playoffs upper bracket final, and this betting preview highlights all of the necessary stats and information bettors need to make the best picks for the match. After both teams barely qualified for the playoffs, G2 Esports and MKOI have comfortably won their matches in making their way to the upper bracket ...
Kick
Transitioning from League of Legends to Kick, Rybsonlol dominates
M Alzamora
Artur "Rybsonlol" Gebicz originally made his name as a League of Legends esports pro, but he's since taken that success and built for himself a strong streaming presence on Kick. Esports and competitive gameplay in general, is a major streaming category across all modern streaming platforms. From the top esports organizations battling it out at tournaments, to their players and personalities creating original content for fans, to streamer groups like ...
Esports Betting
Sentinels vs Cloud9 2026 LCS lock-in playoffs: Preview, predictions
Hannan Mundia
Sentinels and Cloud9 have been performing well in the 2026 LCS Lock-In playoffs so far, and this betting preview for the match showcases the stats you need to make a confident prediction for which team will proceed to the grand final. Cloud9 and Sentinels both won their respective upper bracket matches, sending them each to the upper bracket final. With a direct ticket to the grand final on the line, ...
Esports Betting
Team Liquid vs DSG LCS lock-in playoffs: Preview, predictions
Hannan Mundia
Team Liquid and DSG will start their 2026 LCS Lock-In lower bracket runs by facing off wirth each other, with this betting preview highlighting the state of both teams and our predictions for the match. After a close play-in run, Team Liquid barely made it to the 2026 LCS Lock-In playoffs. The team will now compete against DSG in the lower bracket with elimination on the line, ensuring that only ...
