TL;DR
- LCK moved exclusively to Twitch in 2021, eliminating YouTube viewing options
- Riot Korea issued copyright strikes against established LCK content creators
- Multiple YouTubers faced channel deletion threats and forced takedown agreements
- Community backlash highlights Twitch’s interface limitations and missing features
- No official statements from Riot Games regarding the ongoing content restrictions
League of Legends enthusiasts are expressing widespread discontent with Riot Korea’s increasingly stringent control over LCK broadcasting distribution. The company’s aggressive content management approach has created significant friction within the gaming community.
During the 2021 preseason transition, LCK officials revealed their failure to secure renewed broadcasting rights with YouTube, forcing English-speaking audiences to access matches exclusively through Twitch. This platform limitation angered dedicated followers who noted that Twitch viewership metrics showed no meaningful growth throughout the 2021 season, indicating a net loss of both YouTube viewers and overall fan engagement.
An announcement regarding the 2021 LCK broadcast.
See you this Wednesday, 5pm KST for our season opener: @GenG vs @KTRolster_tw #LCK #WeMakeLegends pic.twitter.com/7g1YniaXiD
— LCK Global (@LCK_Global) January 11, 2021
The platform restriction controversy escalated dramatically when community members discovered Riot Korea was systematically issuing copyright strikes against all LCK-related content across YouTube. This enforcement campaign targeted highlight compilations, match recordings, and any derivative content featuring LCK gameplay footage.
This systematic takedown initiative impacted numerous prominent League of Legends content producers. Established channels like Kaza LoL and Onivia found themselves unable to continue producing highlight reels, despite years of established content creation preceding LCK’s YouTube departure. In an official community update, Kaza LoL disclosed that LCK demanded complete removal of all his LCK-focused content, offering to halt copyright enforcement actions only if he complied with their demands.
“This development obviously prevents me from publishing any future LCK match coverage. My highlight coverage for other competitive leagues will continue uninterrupted,” the creator explained.
Onivia, commanding an audience exceeding 320,000 subscribers, informed his community that future LCK videos would require his on-camera presence to circumvent Riot Korea’s copyright claims. He directed viewers to LCK’s official broadcast channel for traditional highlight viewing experiences.
EpicSkillshot, with 535,000 subscribers, narrowly avoided permanent channel termination. Such an outcome would have erased more than eight years of accumulated competitive gaming archives. The content producer revealed in their community communication that they negotiated a settlement with Riot Korea, committing to permanent cessation of all LCK footage sharing.
League of Legends community members voiced their platform objections extensively across Reddit discussions, citing Twitch’s interface deficiencies and streaming latency issues as primary reasons for refusing to watch LCK broadcasts. Many YouTube-preferring viewers expressed continued frustration with the ongoing restrictions, completely avoiding Twitch due to user experience concerns. Additional criticisms highlighted Twitch’s absence of rewind and fast-forward functionality, features that made YouTube the preferred platform for flexible LCK viewing.
Current community speculation suggests Riot Korea may be attempting to drive viewership toward their LCK Global highlights content. This channel has operated for multiple seasons with minimal audience engagement, leading to theories about Riot Korea’s increasing desperation for content control.
Riot Games has maintained complete silence regarding this escalating content management controversy.
Action Checklist
- Document all copyright strike notifications with timestamps and specific content identifiers
- Review platform-specific content guidelines before creating derivative esports content
- Establish communication channels with rights holders for pre-approval of content usage
- Diversify content portfolio across multiple esports titles to mitigate single-source dependency
No reproduction without permission：Game Guides Online » Riot Korea under fire for copyright striking LCK YouTube content Riot Korea's restrictive LCK content policies spark community backlash and creator censorship concerns