Riot Games’ League of Legends has supposedly been blocked in Iran. Players in the country have reported that they’re unable to access the game due to restrictions by the U.S. government.
Based on a report from GamesIndustry, players in Iran have posted on the game’s official forums saying that the game is no longer letting them in. According to these players, a message stating that they aren’t allowed to access the game at the moment due to U.S. regulations greets them when they try to log in.
“Due to US laws and regulations, players in your country cannot access League of Legends at this time,” states the message. “Such restrictions are subject to change by the US government, so if and when that happens, we will look forward to having you back on the rift.”
Aside from this message, however, Riot games has yet to directly address the matter.
Tensions between Iran and the United States have risen under the current Trump administration. Most recently, Iran shot down an American drone, which has caused the latter to impose new sanctions on Iran. Additionally, the U.S. nearly launched air strikes against Iran before they were called off by the President at the last minute.
Iran isn’t the only country that’s been blocked from League of Legends as of late. Players in Syria have also reported being blocked from playing the game.
Digital gaming services have been blocked in specific countries by U.S. laws before. Prior to this, EA’s Origin is also blocked in Iran and Syria for much the same reasons. Meanwhile, Epic Games does not offer its store in certain countries, Iran included, due to being “prohibited by US law.”
Currently, players have resorted to using VPNs to access the game. However, this does negatively affect their connection quality to the game’s servers. Hopefull, these tensions get resolved and players in Iran and Syria can get to play League of Legends normally soon.
