Riot pulls off rare positive PR move, adds Make-A-Wish winner to League of Legends canon

Riot Games has expanded references to Joe - a player introduced to the company by the Make-a-Wish Foundation back 2012 - in League of Legends. This comes as part of a Jax update that has hit the public beta environment, in which players have discovered references to Joe in the character's lore.

Originally, the Jaximus skin had made tribute to Joe through the line "here's to you kid", which would play through a game of League of Legends when equipped. In the future, all skins will feature this line. In addition, the following information has been included in the Jaximus bio.

"In a fighters' colosseum, Jax's victories were celebrated by a young kid and dedicated fan, Joe. Jax found that Joe himself was an incredible warrior, far braver than anyone Jax had met. Joe gave Jax the nickname “Jaximus,” a title he heartily accepted."

“Here's to you, kid,” declared Jax as he charged into battle, hoisting the lamplight in Joe's honor."

This is a nice move by the team behind Jax's visual update, and a nice change of pace from the usual kind of news we here coming out of Riot Games. It was only two years ago that Riot settled a gender discrimination lawsuit for $100 million. The developer is joined by Microsoft and various other big-tech companies in laying off staff during the recession we find ourselves in, not to mention the recent controversy with player-unfriendly monetization added to Teamfight Tactics.

That just names a few of the bigger controversies that hit the company in recent years, making this expansion on a decade old heartwarming move from the company sorely in need of as many great PR moves as it can get. For a less critical perspective, it's great to see the developers behind this update taking the time to not only retain the gesture towards a treasured fan of the MOBA, but expand upon it.

So, here's to you Jax update team, and here's to you Joe.