On March 24, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced at a press conference that Riot Games had donated $1.5 million to help the city fight the COVID-19 epidemic.
"We are blessed here in LA to have industries that not only fuel our city but our country and our world's economy. Gaming is one of those industries and one of the leaders in that space is Riot Games. They're based right here in our city, and today that company and its founders are donating more than $800,000 to local nonprofits including $ 200,000 to the Mayor's Fund to support whatever is needed for COVID-19 relief," Garcetti said.
While the donation is evaluated to $1,500,000, the company only contributed to a third of this amount and was completed by co-founders Mark Merrill and Brandon Beck. A part of this donation was transferred to the LA Food Bank.
“Los Angeles has always been Riot's home and Angelenos are an irreplaceable part of our success. We're proud to be able to give back to our community in this difficult time, and as a global company, we will also continue to evaluate how we can help battle this crisis on a global scale," stated Riot Games.
Riot Games already proved their commitment to the ongoing fight against the COVID-19 by suspending the LEC and the LCS. While both leagues resumed last week, matches had to be played online to respect the current health measures.
Travis Gafford, well-known journalist from the League of Legends scene, revealed via his YouTube channel that 2/3 of the LCS pros players had voted for an outright cancellation of Spring Split following a vote led by The Players Association.
