Ethan Crossfield 
If you play League of Legends or Valorant, double-check your in-game communication and friend-request options—new parental controls rolled out by Riot Games are reportedly restricting some players beyond what they expected, including chat access and social features.
What Riot added across League, Valorant, and TFT
Riot Games has introduced new parental and child-protection controls across multiple titles, including League of Legends, Valorant, and Teamfight Tactics (TFT). The stated purpose is to give parents more ways to manage how younger players interact online.
According to the update details summarized in community reporting, the parental feature set includes options to turn text and voice chat off or limit it to friends, block the ability to send or accept friend requests, and restrict or disable access to certain Riot games. In other words, Riot is offering more granular control over both communication and social connectivity.
However, the same changes are now being described as having unintended side effects—particularly for players who believe they should not be affected.
Who is affected—and what players say went wrong
Players have reported unexpected limitations reaching far beyond the intended parental use. Multiple League of Legends users claim they were incorrectly restricted from using chat features, with reports that the parental control option appeared to be enabled automatically when the feature launched.
Some users also describe being unable to reverse the restriction, even when their Riot account already had a date of birth on file. One account reportedly belonged to a 16-year-old, and the user said the account was blocked with no apparent way to disable the parental feature.
Riot later acknowledged the issue publicly, stating that the parental controls were improperly affecting many League of Legends accounts. The company indicated it would roll back the change specifically in League to address the problems. Some players also raised questions about whether email verification tied to parental controls was working as intended, though the source does not provide definitive confirmation of that specific cause.
Why the controversy is louder in Valorant (and what to watch next)
The backlash has been especially noticeable in Valorant, where the game is rated for teenagers in the US (ESRB) and 16+ in Europe (PEGI). League of Legends has a lighter PEGI 12+ content rating paired with a teenage (T) rating in the US, based on the information cited in the source.
Critics argue the new parental system can be disruptive even for long-time users, including those who already provided age information. One pointed-out detail from the community is that Riot’s new parental system may be the only existing way to block incoming friend requests.
At the same time, Riot is preparing additional League content: the studio teased League of Legends Classic in June as a nostalgic mode built around earlier Summoner’s Rift designs and older versions of champions and items. With that July-focused release on the horizon, players are watching whether the parental controls controversy will continue to overshadow the company’s next big League moment—or whether the League rollback resolves enough of the immediate frustration.
What players should know
- Riot added parental controls that can limit or disable text/voice chat, restrict friend requests, and limit access to certain Riot games.
- Some League of Legends players report chat restrictions and social-feature limits even when they believe they should have full access.
- Riot says it will roll back the change in League to fix improperly affected accounts.
- If you rely on friend requests or incoming social features, confirm whether parental settings are impacting you—community reports suggest the system may not be easy to undo.
Expert View
Riot’s goal—safer online spaces for minors—is easy to understand, especially as more games add age-gated communication tools. The problem here is execution: when parental controls appear to trigger automatically or restrict accounts that should be unaffected, trust erodes quickly. The announced League rollback is a necessary first step, but players will want transparency on why accounts were impacted and whether similar issues could occur in Valorant or TFT as the features continue to roll out.
