Riot awarded $10 million in Leaguesharp lawsuit settlement

Riot Games' lawsuit against the League of Legends botting service Leaguesharp has come to an end with a $10 million payout for Riot, and the legally-mandated shutdown of Leaguesharp's services. The suit, filed last summer, alleged that Leaguesharp was a "gamebreaking" service that let unscrupulous players earn money by "creating and selling accounts that have been artificially leveled," and that Leaguesharp itself pulled in hundreds of thousands of dollars per month on it.

The lawsuit settlement was actually reached in January, according to an earlier Score Esports report, and Leaguesharp was given until February 28 to cease operations. The victory came despite efforts to avoid the hammer that Riot claimed included setting up a shell company in Peru, destroying evidence, and doxxing at least one of its employees. Eventually, however, Leaguesharp was forced to concede the loss.

"As some of you may know, Riot Games has filed a lawsuit against LeagueSharp and has made it clear to us that LeagueSharp violates their Terms of Use. As a result of our lawsuit with Riot, we have agreed to cease development and support for LeagueSharp and any other tools related to Riot Games," the company wrote on its website. "You also should be aware that using third-party tools in League of Legends may result in the suspension or banning of your account by Riot Games. We apologize for any pain we've caused to players of League of Legends."

(The message has since been deleted, but it remains visible in the page source at joduska.me.)

But the final settlement, as reported by Dot Esports, also grants Riot a $10 million payout, a court-ordered ban on the software, and control of Leaguesharp websites. That's an awfully big chunk of money, but Leaguesharp was hardly giving its wares away: its "limited" subscription service cost $15 per month, while the unlimited license, with no cap on the number of games that could be played daily, was $50 per month.

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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.