Brazil has passed new safety laws forcing Riot to change the status of its games in the country. On March 16, Brazil will raise the age rating of Riot’s games to 18+ and implement age verification to be able to access them. Here’s what this could mean for the region.
On Monday, players in Brazil will need to go through an age verification process to ensure that they’re adults. This is done by providing a scan of an identity document, a facial scan, a payment card, or the CPF number (the individual taxpayer registry). Riot will use Kids Web Service for the verification.
On Wednesday, the age limit for League of Legends, VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics, Wild Rift, 2XKO, and Legends of Runeterra will be raised to 18. From that point on, players under 18 will no longer be allowed to play these games.
There’s an exception for VALORANT, though. Players of the FPS between the age of 12 and 17 will be able to play the game after providing parental consent.
Riot has stated that this change is temporary. However, the company expects to be able to return to the original age rating by early 2027.
All accounts belonging to minors will be temporarily banned (“paused”) until the change is reverted.
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In League of Legends, Brazil has a very healthy esports scene. The CBLOL Cup finals peaked at 443,000 viewers, more than doubling the LCS Lock-in numbers (185,000). Not only that, but they’re also approaching international relevance.
Riot now considers the CBLOL a major region (albeit with only one international spot), and Brazil showed at the Americas Cup that they could definitely compete with NA.
However, this change guts not only the player base but the ability to foster new pro players. An entire part of the community will lose access to their accounts for one year as of this week.
Pro players often start their careers young, between the ages of 17 and 19. In the case of trainees, that can be even earlier. This week, LOUD top laner Xyno will represent Brazil at First Stand as a 19-year-old. Tatu, the jungler that terrorized NA at the Americas Cup, is also 19.
Without being able to play, one obviously can’t become a pro player, severely hurting the ability for the scene to renovate and improve.
Even if the ban is lifted in 2027, the damage will persist afterwards. It takes a long time to reach a professional level, and a one-year gap gets in the way.
In fact, LØS marksman Duduhh is only 17. While he will turn 18 next month, this means the new age rating will ban a current pro player from playing League of Legends.
Featured image source: Riot Games
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