Riot Games won't issue refunds, at least for now

Jul 30, 2015 11:34 GMT  ·  By

League of Legends is currently hosting its major Bilgewater story event, and a pretty big change has just been implemented in the game, as Gangplank is no longer playable because another champion, in the form of Miss Fortune, has killed him. Developer Riot advises patience from players and emphasizes that it won't issue refunds to those who bought Gangplank before he became unavailable.

League of Legends is one of the most popular multiplayer online battle arena experiences out there, but unlike chief rival Dota 2, its huge list of champions is behind a paywall, as players must buy the characters with virtual or real-world cash, unless they want to stick with the weekly free ones.

Things get hectic due to the ongoing story event

However, for the first time in the game's history, it seems that a story even has a direct and serious impact on the gameplay, as Gangplank, one of the many playable characters in the game, is no longer available.

In the Bilgewater event, the character got killed by rival Miss Fortune, and as a consequence, players who bought Gangplank are no longer able to actually use him during matches.

This, of course, isn't going down so well with the many different League of Legends players, so developer Riot Games confirms on the forums that it's going to remedy things in the next few days.

Until that time, however, asking for refunds over Gangplank's untimely death is useless, as the studio won't address these requests.

"Champion death is unprecedented in League of Legends, and we do not take it lightly. We encourage all Gangplank fans to remain calm for a few days until we can fully assess the situation. At this time, we are not addressing refund requests for him or his skins but please know that over the next several days we’ll do our best to make things right for everyone," the studio explains.

Gangplank was scheduled for an overhaul of his abilities, talents, and visuals, so it's possible that Riot is using the story event to motivate his makeover. However, making him unavailable to those who bought the champion is a pretty controversial move.