The operator of the popular online game League of Legends is taking a tough stance against users of virtual private networks (VPNs)

According to Riot Games, many people accessing the beta version of League of Legends are accessing Wild Rift via VPN from areas where the game is not yet legally offered: from areas where the game is not yet legally offered Many people accessing Wild Rift via VPN will no longer be able to access it

At this time, the Wild Rift beta has only been released in a handful of Asian countries: Japan, Thailand, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines

However, according to a blog post by Riot Games, a large number of people are using VPNs to disguise their location and access the game from other countries; Riot Games claims that this VPN use is causing various problems

"To protect the best in-game experience, we are making some changes to VPN logins for all of our games, but the biggest impact is on Wild Rift," wrote Landon McDowell, director of technical operations at Riot Games

"It is becoming increasingly clear that far more of you are eager to play the Wild Rift beta than we had anticipated As we have monitored the in-game experience, we have noticed a variety of issues with the game, including players logging in using VPNs from outside the beta region

"These issues range from inconvenient (like the language barrier) to completely game-breaking (like lag spikes that make it unplayable for everyone, not just players on VPN)

McDowell further explained that Riot Games looked at different ways to solve these problems and decided that blocking VPN access was the most effective solution

"After considering ways to protect the gaming experience of the largest number of players, we concluded that the best solution was to immediately prevent VPN access from the highest volume VPN services outside the beta region," McDowell wrote We will continue to evaluate whether further VPN services need to be added to the list"

In other words, not all VPN services will still be blocked, only those that bring the most out-of-area players to Wild Rift McDowell did not say which service it was, but acknowledged that this was not an easy choice for game developers

"It would kill us to block access to anyone, but we believe this is the right course of action to ensure that beta players can enjoy Wild Rift the way it was intended"

The VPN block only affects users accessing the game from non-supported regions Those living in official beta regions will be able to continue using the VPN service while playing the game

"We are working to make Wild Rift available worldwide as soon as possible," McDowell added, "but I can't tell you anything about the timing yet" We don't like to block access to anyone, but we believe this is the right thing to do to provide the best experience for the most players"[25