League of Legends has been blocked for citizens of Iran and Syria. The initiator of the blocking was the US government.
According to Dot Esports, Iranian and Syrian players have not been able to get into the League of Legends for two days without a VPN. The game blocks them by national IP addresses. When users try to log in to their account, they see a message about blocking “in accordance with US laws and regulations.” Only Washington can remove this restriction.
Riot Games, which is responsible for League of Legends, is apparently just following the instructions of the government. The studio itself has not yet released an official statement on this issue.
The blockage occurred against the backdrop of growing tensions between the United States and the two above-mentioned countries. Relations have worsened due to the downing of an American drone by Iran and the attack on two US oil tankers (which is also blamed on Iran). There are suggestions that the blocking of League of Legends is connected with this. The possible influence of US foreign policy on the access of ordinary players to popular titles in the League of Legends community was sharply condemned.
Another reason for the restrictions, according to Gamesindustry.biz, there may be microtransactions. They are present in the League of Legends, and this fact may run counter to the desire of the United States to stop its companies’ trade ties with Iran and Syria. Indeed, in recent years, the White House has been actively imposing sanctions against Iran and also Russia because of the Syrian conflict.
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