Streaming League of Legends has always come with a major drawback—stream sniping. This unfair practice, where players deliberately queue into a streamer’s game and use their live broadcast to gain an advantage, has long frustrated content creators.
To address this issue, Riot Games has introduced a new Streamer Mode, offering some protection against sniping.
How the New Streamer Mode Works
This newly implemented feature modifies in-game visuals to make it harder for snipers to target streamers. The key adjustments include:
- Summoner names are replaced with champion names across various UI elements, including health bars, the scoreboard, in-game chat, and announcements.
- The streamer’s summoner name is hidden from other players and is also replaced with the champion’s name.
- Health bars display champion names instead of summoner names, making it harder to identify streamers.
These features aim to provide better anonymity during matches, reducing the likelihood of being targeted by malicious players.
Is Streamer Mode Enough? Community Concerns
While these changes are a welcome step, many in the community feel that Riot Games could do more to fully prevent sniping. Some of the most requested improvements include:
- Private Profiles: Many players believe Riot should allow users to hide their profiles from third-party tracking sites like OP.GG to prevent snipers from checking match histories and play patterns.
- Anonymous Loading Screens: Currently, summoner names are still visible during the loading screen, giving snipers a brief window to identify and prepare against streamers.
- Match Delays: Some streamers still prefer to add manual delays to their broadcasts as an extra precaution, showing that additional measures may still be necessary.
The Impact on the Streaming Community
One of the most vocal critics of stream sniping in Spain is Xokas, a dedicated League of Legends streamer. Despite his love for the game, he has frequently expressed frustration over how snipers ruin the experience. Many streamers share his sentiment, arguing that while Riot’s new mode is helpful, more comprehensive solutions are needed.
Final Thoughts
The introduction of Streamer Mode is a positive move by Riot Games, but it may not be the ultimate solution to sniping. While it adds a level of protection, the community continues to call for stronger anti-sniping measures, such as private profiles and hidden loading screens.
Whether Riot will expand on this feature remains to be seen, but for now, streamers may still need to rely on personal workarounds to fully protect their experience.
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