What Faker said to Riot about rampant DDoS attacks

Luke Warr Published June 27, 2024

T1’s Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok tells fans about the DDoS attacks they’ve experienced over the past few months in a new interview.

A few weeks ago, household name esports sponsor T1 announced that it would suspend all streams from its League of Legends players citing disruptive denial of service attacks. Since then, Riot has yet to address the issue in a meaningful way. The problem has reached a point where Faker discussed the issue in a T1 content video. The greatest League fo Legends player of all time, are arguably the GOAT of all esports, says that the issue could lead to problems for the future of esports.

Here’s what mid lane master Faker had to say about DDoS attacks in League of Legends.

Faker claims DDoS attacks will “gradually undermine” esports

Faker shared his growing concerns over the DDoS attacks in an episode of The Trophy Room on T1’s official YouTube channel.

“When we faced the DDoS attacks, we assumed the tournament would proceed on a private network. Online streams and personal attacks still remain, and it’s crucial for these concerns to be addressed,” said Faker.

T1 and Riot Korea moved players to a private network to avoid further DDoS attacks. It didn’t take long before the malicious actors started targeting teammates in T1 players’ games instead. As a result, T1 banned its players from streaming until Riot resolved the issue internally.

“If left unresolved, it could gradually undermine the value of esports,” Faker concluded.

T1 is the most iconic team in League of Legends, with four World Championship wins and a dozen more in other tournaments. For such a team to experience these attacks speaks volumes about League of Legends’ online security. For fans, Riot’s passiveness regarding the DDoS attacks communicates how little it cares about its players.

Faker’s statement about the shrinking value of esports may hold true if these attacks don’t stop. The Apex Legends Global Series experienced an embarrassing attack that derailed the entire tournament. A hacker with the handle “Destroyer” took control of pro-player accounts in the middle of a tournament game, stopping the event for the day. These infamous events should motivate any esports title developer to strengthen its security. Otherwise, there’d be no game to play.