The ranked Season 13 has kicked off with a bang, but the response to the latest cinematic, caused a community response that few had expected…
If you thought 2023 had started quietly for the League of Legends community enough, you would be very much wrong. The community reaction across the board to the Season 13 cinematic – Brink of Infinity has been less than positive. So much so that fans have questioned if Riot no longer cares to invest in League of Legends; which led to a statement from Riot in response.
"There were some unprecedented circumstances that had us choose an alternate approach to the Season 2023 video."
What happened with the Season 13 cinematic?
Seasonal cinematics have been a custom in League of Legends for years; often featuring popular champions, beautiful scenery and a song. These cinematic start of season anthems, have become staple to fans. And as a staple they have been highly anticipated.
With the recent popularity of Arcane, Worlds 2022 being held in North America, and MSI 2023 coming to London, there was a lot of anticipation for the Season 13 cinematic video. But it fell somewhat flat for almost everyone.
What was the community response?
There was an outpouring of comments from the community across social media including on the video itself, as well as on Reddit and Twitter. With high profile names in the scene giving their opinion on the latest season cinematic and voice their dismay.
Many fans questioned "where is the budget?" as the new cinematic featured no characters from the game, and while the cinematic art was beautiful, it wasn’t in line with what fans had come to expect. The lack of song and use of voice over also had fans feeling disappointed and underwhelmed. Overall it had fans questioning what Riot had been aiming to create.
With some fans saying they felt like Riot had "given up" on League and that the budget had been cut almost completely. Especially as the video was posted at a time that many players and fans viewed as a time that few people would be online.
The sense of disappointment was obvious from the comments section on the original video alone. Scarra also weighed in asking "what the heck happened" to the cinematic season opener for 2023 as it simply didn’t match up. Doubelift also asked "how did this make it live?" in regard to the anthem.
What was Riot’s response?
Following the outpouring of community comments, many of which were negative – Riot Games released a statement on the League of Legends Twitter account. This statement however took a while to be published, leaving fans feeling frustrated that Riot were not speaking on the matter.
When a statement was published on January 10 at 4pm EST, Riot said they "should have been more communicative." As well as that they are "committed to given more details about what investment" in League will look like.
Riot also admitted there had been "some unprecedented circumstances" that had led to changes being made. But that they would continue to invest in League and were grateful for community feedback and support. The new cinematic remains available to watch, and form your own opinion about, on YouTube.
This also follows a lack of communication from the LCS on the Spring Split for 2023, and has left fans with a bad taste in their mouths as ranked Season 13 starts.
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