Before you dive into developing using the API, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the General and Game Policies, Terms of Use, and Legal Notices. As a developer, you must stay up-to-date with any policy changes that may arise.
Abiding by API Guidelines
When developing with the API, you must adhere to the following guidelines:
- Products you create cannot violate any laws.
- You cannot create or develop games that utilize Riot’s Intellectual Property (IP).
- Cryptocurrencies and blockchain are not allowed.
- Your app cannot act as a “data broker” between Riot’s API and another third-party company.
- Products you create cannot closely resemble Riot’s games or products in style or function.
- When developing and marketing your product, you can only use the following Riot IP assets:
- Press kit
- Example: If your product’s core value requires the use of Riot logos and trademarks, you may use them, but only in limited cases.
- Game-specific static data
Additionally, you must prominently display the following legal boilerplate in your product, where it is easily visible to players:
“[Your Product Name] is not endorsed by Riot Games and does not reflect the views or opinions of Riot Games or anyone officially involved in producing or managing Riot Games properties. Riot Games and all associated properties are trademarks or registered trademarks of Riot Games, Inc.”
Registration
If your product serves players, you must register it with us, regardless of whether or not your product uses official documented APIs. Make sure you keep the product description and metadata up to date with the current version of your product.
Monetization
To monetize your product, you must follow these guidelines:
- Your product cannot feature betting or gambling functionality.
- Your product must be registered on the Developer Portal, and its status must be either Approved or Acknowledged.
- You must offer a free tier of access for players, which can include advertising.
- If you are charging players for content, it must be transformative. This means you must add value to the original content by creating new information, aesthetics, insights, or understandings.
- Acceptable ways to charge players include subscriptions, donations, crowdfunding, entry fees for tournaments, and currencies that cannot be exchanged back into fiat.
- Your monetization strategies cannot exploit players or be unfair, as decided by Riot.
If you are unsure whether your proposed monetization platform is acceptable, contact us through the Developer Portal for clarification.
Security
Adhering to security policies is of utmost importance. Please follow these guidelines:
- Do not share your Riot Games account information with anyone.
- Do not use a Production API key to run multiple projects. You may only have one product per key.
- Always use SSL/HTTPS when accessing the APIs to keep your API key safe.
- Never include your API key in your code, especially if you plan on distributing a binary version of your product. Share the key only with your teammates. If you need to share an API key with your teammates, ensure your product is owned by a group in the Developer portal and add additional accounts as necessary.
Game Integrity
Maintaining game integrity is crucial. Your products must adhere to the following guidelines:
- Products cannot alter the goal of the game (for example, destroying the Nexus).
- Products cannot create an unfair advantage for players, such as a cheating program or giving certain players an advantage that others do not have.
- Products should increase the diversity of game decisions, such as builds, compositions, characters, and decks.
- Products should not remove game decisions but may highlight important decisions and provide multiple choices to help players make good decisions.
- Products cannot create alternatives for official skill ranking systems, such as the ranked ladder. Prohibited alternatives include MMR or ELO calculators.
- Products cannot identify or analyze players who intentionally hide from the game.
Tournament Policies
If you are organizing tournaments, please follow these guidelines:
- Tournaments must follow all monetization policies mentioned above.
- At least 70% of the entry fees must be allocated to the prize pool.
- Win conditions must be fair and transparent to players (fairness is determined by Riot).
- Tournaments must have at least 20 participants.
- Gambling is not allowed in tournaments.
Tournament organizers in different regions must refer to the appropriate regional tournament organizer policies.
Remember, on November 20, 2023, Riot is transitioning from Summoner Names to Riot ID as the authoritative way to reference players. Make sure you update the applicable API accordingly. More details about this transition can be found here.
That’s it! You’re now equipped with all the information you need to create amazing products using the League of Legends API. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to us through the Developer Portal. Happy coding, and have fun building awesome experiences for League of Legends players!
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