Preface: The S16 season has officially started, and most players are paying close attention to the recent competition. In the past few days of the offseason, LPL insiders have successively revealed many transfer inside stories, causing widespread debate among global players. The leaker profession is becoming more and more popular. Recently, Riot Games has begun cracking down hard on game content leaks. Although no official announcement has been made, the Brazilian leaker, Big Bad Bear, has already been permanently banned by the authorities. He must have obtained this information from internal sources, likely closely related to Riot employees. Moreover, he could simply switch accounts and continue leaking.

Riot permanently bans another account

Most players are quite familiar with League of Legends. As an esports game, its growth to its current scale within just over a decade is truly remarkable. In recent years, Riot has been gradually adjusting the game, but the once-innovative gameplay mechanics have become increasingly stale. After each World Championship, Riot adds new features to the client, but these updates are rarely announced officially—they are usually leaked by insiders. Even choices for champion skins in Worlds are often revealed through behind-the-scenes stories from industry sources.

Recently, one of the biggest League leakers, Big Bad Bear, has been permanently banned by Riot Games. You might not be familiar with this overseas blogger, but he previously leaked Uzi's limited skin and even revealed Faker's choice of the Yone Worlds skin in advance. He was also the first to announce Caps' induction into the Hall of Fame. This insider is known for leaking champions, events, and game content ahead of time. This time, he received a hardware ID ban, meaning that even creating new game accounts won't allow him to re-enter the game. Riot has provided no explanation, but most players believe it's due to his persistent leaks of League-related information.

Honestly, such a strict permanent ban reminds many netizens of the legendary figure Dopa, who was also permanently banned from competitive play back then. However, for this Brazilian guy, an account and hardware ID ban have almost no effect—he just needs to switch computers to bypass it. Of course, if he does that, Riot's legal team will likely step in, as leaking information severely disrupts official operations. The chances of winning such a lawsuit are very high.

As the EMEA Regional Qualifiers progress, the competition is heating up. Top professional players from Western regions haven't been performing well. Bwipo's Belgian team lost to Germany and dropped to the lower bracket; Perkz's Croatian team lost to Hungary and also fell to the lower bracket. Honestly, many fans still hope to see Perkz on stage in the main event. As the core player of G2 back in the day, he attracted a lot of attention from LPL fans. Now, to qualify for the main event, he must achieve a three-win streak in the lower bracket. It's hard for Perkz to do it alone.

Zaijian's take

This account ban feels like one of the harshest Riot has implemented in recent years. The Brazilian leaker has been revealing too much lately—new champions, game updates, skins, Hall of Fame selections—all leaked through him. Some players even thought he was an official spokesperson, sharing inside info ahead of time. This hardware ID ban might be a warning. If more inside leaks continue, Riot will likely escalate, possibly leading to financial ruin for the leaker.

What do you, our dear audience, think about this matter?