Riot says NO to Curse Voice

Less than an hour ago, Riot Sargonas released a Riot Games official statement on third party applications focusing on the controversial Curse Voice client. The DL:DR version is as follows:

A summary



Ultimately we recognize that our initial third party application policies were unclear, so we’re clarifying them in line with a few core philosophies:



1.) The League of Legends in-game experience should be consistent and fair.

2.) We strive to make League of Legends the most sportsmanlike competitive game.

3.) We want the community to be empowered to contribute to the League of Legends experience.



This has allowed us to formulate a more comprehensive policy for third party applications:



No software should interfere with the League of Legends player experience between when you press “Play” and the end of game screen.



We always want to improve League of Legends in the best ways possible, so this will be an ongoing project, but we think that as long as we adhere to our core philosophies, we can uphold this policy.

If you preferred to read the full version, you can see that Curse Voice violates the policy in two main ways that Riot just isn’t happy with.

1. Automated timers: while our design team is still exploring whether we’d want to add any kind of built-in timers to League of Legends, we agree with many of you that having it accessible only through a third-party app is a clear competitive advantage between those who download it and those who do not, and isn’t acceptable.

While Baron and Dragon timestamps do exist, they add an additional mechanic that isn’t easily traceable during a match. This requires additional map awareness that the game will be losing.



2. Automated voice calls: We have no problem with players hopping on Curse Voice (or any other voice chat client) to coordinate with their friends in-game, but when the application begins directly connecting you with dozens of other people in unfiltered (and untrackable) voice chats, it can make for a huge negative player experience in a space where we can’t help.

We already have a large portion of toxic players in League, connecting through untraceable voice chat that Riot can’t punish for is just not acceptable.

What many also don’t know is Riot are the white knight in this case. One thing that Curse Voice has been caught for is the sale of personal information to advertisers. If you check your folder, you’ll find Curse Advertising.

In short, according to Riot Sargonas, players who have used the service will not be banned, but further use is highly discouraged. Pack that CV up boys, it’s back to warding.