Former footballer Edgar Davids wins lawsuit against Riot Games Judge rules that League of Legends developer used Davids' likeness for Striker Lucian skin

James Batchelor UK Editor Monday 14th August 2017 Share this article Share

Companies in this article Riot Games

Riot Games has lost a lawsuit to Edgar Davids, a Dutch-born former footballer.

The case centred around Striker Lucian, a skin that reimagines the character as a soccer player with sunglasses and a distinct hairstyle.

Davids - who played for teams such as Barcelona, Milan, Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace during his career - argued that this take on the character was based on his own likeness.

GamesIndustry.biz has prepared our own comparison below.

Davids sued Riot Games, and according to Dutch site Het Parool, as translated by PC Gamer, he was successful.

Riot's defence hinged on insisting the similarities between Striker Lucian and Davids weren't enough to warrant the lawsuit and claimed that League of Legends players wouldn't confuse the two.

This defence was weakened somewhat by a tweet from Riot's then-QA analyst Baconhawk back in 2014. The tweet currently appears to be down, but according to PC Gamer, it read:

"For all you wondering, Striker Lucian was inspired by soccer pro Edgar Davids."

The judge has rule that Riot must reveal to auditors how much money the Striker Lucian skin has earned, and will use this to determine how much compensation Davids is entitled to.

Given that the skin came out in 2014 and, from what we can tell, the Striker Lucian skin appears to be popular among pro League players, it's a safe bet that the amount will not be insignificant.