The new cinematic to kick off the League of Legends season for 2023 is getting eviscerated by players and is already more disliked than the last installment released a year ago.
The start of a new League of Legends season is often a joy for new players, who can embark on a new climb to Diamond, enjoy the changes from the preseason, and return to playing on the Rift with their friends.
Another reason the new season’s start is so exciting is the release of a brand new cinematic for League.
Often featuring some of the game’s iconic characters doing battle to some epic music, past iterations have wowed fans and entranced non-League players with their storytelling and animation.
Unfortunately, the 2023 edition has left many LoL players disappointed.
League Season 13 cinematic roasted by players
The 2023 League of Legends cinematic, celebrating the start of Season 13, was released on January 10, 2023. Many fans woke up eager to see what Riot had produced, yet, most were left disappointed.
Unlike past years, this cinematic doesn’t feature any champions from the game but instead takes players through a ground-level tour of the Summoner’s Rift map.
Although the cinematic is done in incredible detail, with the voiceovers of iconic League esports moments playing in the background, players were still left wanting.
In a Reddit thread, League players expressed their frustration at the cinematic. Many wondered whether the perceived lack of effort could indicate Riot’s support for the game is waning.
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“Is this really the cinematic for the year? Just a voice over? That’s it?” one commenter questioned indignantly.
Players threw around comments like “cheap and disappointing,” “god awful & shameful,” the worst cinematic since the game’s release in 2009, and “not even on the brink of being average.”
As the main post indicates, the video has already received a deluge of dislikes in the hours since it was released.
In fact, according to the poster, this new cinematic has already received more dislikes on YouTube than the previous cinematic, The Call, which was released in 2022. However, YouTube does not natively display dislikes anymore, so this may not be accurate.
But it’s clear that Riot has taken notice of the fan response to Brink of Infinity, posting a lengthy Twitter thread expressing apologies for the cinematic.
A message from Riot about Season 2023: We've launched a cinematic as a part of Season Start every year since 2018, and make no mistake: everyone on League knows how much you love them. So do we! (Thread)
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) January 10, 2023
The thread read in part “unprecedented circumstances that had us choose an alternate approach to the Season 2023 video. However, we believed it could still embody League’s broad universe and competitive spirit while celebrating the start of a new season.”
Unprecedented circumstances or not, League players are clearly not happy with the latest cinematic. Or having to potentially wait another year for the next one.