League of Legends is one of the most greedy gacha games, Brazil demanded the removal of microtransactions.

Riot Games is currently learning an expensive lesson about international gambling laws. A Brazilian court recently issued a major ruling, ordering that League of Legends the developer paid about $3 million for using the loot boxes.

The lawsuit, led by a child and youth advocacy group, alleges that Riot was exposing young players to unregulated gambling mechanics. Along with the hefty fine, the court ordered Riot to remove all unplanned microtransactions from the Brazilian customer until it proves that minors can’t buy them.

While cracking down on dangerous gaming practices sounds good on paper, the wording of the ruling has left many tech advocates and gamers scratching their heads. The court decided that anywhere the sale of unplanned digital goods for children there are punishments.

That definition is ridiculously broad. It completely ignores the context of how these goods are actually sold, what’s inside them, or how the user interface presents them.

Take the Hextech chests, for example. For years, the community has been hailing Hextech’s creativity as a rare example of engaging, passive monetization. You can earn them completely free by playing well; The drop rates are completely transparent, and do not pressure players with an aggressive casino style.

Ask any esports fan what worries them about the monetization of modern games, and they’ll tell you it’s not the humble bosom of Hextech. The real villain here is the aggressive shift towards gacha mechanics.

The frenzy is heavily dependent on fancy, gacha systems that have been faltering lately, like Faker Ahri’s famous $500 skin bundle or essential capsules that cost hundreds of dollars to ensure a certain look. These systems use the psychological FOMO, the fear of missing out, to make players roll the dice over and over again for a chance at a fraction of a percent of a digital asset.

It’s that kind of behavior that scandalizes the public and draws the attention of government regulators.

One Redditor said about the growing presence of gacha in League of Legends: “I haven’t played League for a while due to lack of time. I saw the Sahn Uzal skin, and I immediately realized that it falls under the ‘Elevated’ scam. I still don’t see how these skins justify, for what it is, a 10x price increase from Ultimate.”

They added that gacha should not be used for “prestige” or “premium” skins, which should be earned by grinding the game itself.

Added another frustrated player: “I think there’s no possible way to ‘grind’ gacha coins. It’s like 3 pulls for every paid pass, which means you need to farm about 27 passes to guarantee a Superior skin.

“Also, these currency units are available when you PAY the pass. This is probably the *****est gacha I’ve ever seen in a game, and I play FGO, a gacha game with a 330 draw hole…”

In most gacha games, gacha cosmetics can be earned through daily stories, events, story completion, and game play. It’s a way to keep you going. But at least it’s an option. In League of Legends, however, the only way to try your luck with their gacha mechanic is to pay money. Real money. This made League of Legends feel very thin.

Another player said: “Even whales won’t pay R400 for a skin, but they will totally gamble $400 on it.”

All of this legal wrangling highlights a very frustrating tendency for the hardcore esports crowd. Over the past few years, it feels like the real competitive side of League of Legends is taking a back seat to the digital fashion show.

Fandom hubs used to be filled with deep discussions about patch notes, the main map, and player support drafts. Now, the hype cycle is completely dominated by cosmetic announcements, final skins, and battle passes. It may be due to developers wanting to earn more money.

League of Legends is not alone in this. Overwatch realized a long time ago that cosmetics were a real attention-grabber over competing reviews, especially when the skins belonged to popular heroes like Mercy. The skins that come with the new season often have overshadowed game modes and competitive balance updates released alongside them.

One X user said: “In a community that’s been up in arms about not getting PvE with a skill tree, we sure don’t mind ignoring a game mode with a skill tree… Like, what are we doing?”

Esports fans are increasingly upset that the game’s client seems to be more focused on being a high-end merchandise store than a well-tuned competitive arena. This multi-million dollar decision in Brazil may be the reason Riot needs to reassess where it is putting its energy.

But the truth is, most players are casual. Collecting skins is often more difficult for casual players than increasing their level. And I think this goes back to arguments I’ve made in the past: Esports is still part of sports. Not the majority of gamers. Most players don’t even know who Faker is. Well, unless you live in South Korea.

Gacha will always make more money than esports per game title. In fact, esports would even need those gacha mechanics to get funding at all. It’s a lesser necessary evil, but esports fans still hope Riot finds a better way to do what feels like greed and harm to the community.