Riot Games Sued for “Striker Lucian” Skin Resemblance

Edgar Davids is a former Dutch professional footballer who played as a midfielder for many years and for many clubs. He had a unique look on the field, mainly due to his glasses, which at times were tinted orange and his dreadlocks.  For the most part, he’s been enjoying his retirement after an impressive career, but the Riot Games forced his hand to sue. Davids did so successfully.

Obviously, Riot Games tried to defend themselves with an attempted “it was a complete coincidence” tone, but their own history got the better of them. If we wind the clock back to 2014, a Riot employee tweeted these exact words:

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

Somebody’s getting fired. At the time, Edgar Davids was quite grateful for the inclusion into the game but he was unaware of the immense size of LoL. Therefore, he’s chosen to strike now for compensation.  Below is an extract from the court’s statement.

"The player's marketable popularity is enough reason for the former player to fight the use of his portrait. The player's interests outweigh the commercial interests of the game to offer the Striker Lucian skin and no reasonable compensation has been offered to the player. Riot Games therefore owe the player a compensation fee.”

The game developer must pay every penny ever made from using his image. Of course, the player’s claim is extremely valid and we’re pretty sure you can see the utter resemblance yourself. Even the use of “striker” closes the gap to the football field.

League of Legends will probably take this to heart for future skins.