Pro League of Legends player Li 'Vasilii' Wei Jun has been banned from League of Legends after the gamer made threats of violence against his girlfriend in a livestream.

Per a ruling from developer Riot Games, the player has been suspended for 20 months due to the severe nature of the case. This is twice the 10 month suspension a user might receive for making threats against another player. This 20 period starts on January 2018, with Wei Jun able to rejoin League of Legends in January 2020. Riot, however, reserves the right to extend this due to 'aggravating circumstances'.

"We consider Vasilii’s behavior particularly egregious, beyond the worst kinds of extreme misconduct that we originally had in mind when we devised the Global Penalty Index," Riot wrote.

"As specified in the GPI, we reserve the right to modify the Maximum Suspension Time due to aggravating circumstances. We consider the fact that threats of domestic abuse were made - and that they were made toward a defenseless person and in a private residence - to be aggravating factors. Whereas making these threats toward another another professional player on stage might warrant a 10 month suspension, physical intimidation and threats of domestic abuse should be punished much more harshly. Additionally, Vasilii has been punished for violent tendencies before - in an incident last year he showed physical aggression onstage, smashing a keyboard and physically intimidating a camera operator during a match."

Furthermore, the studio has decided it will be making changes to its Extreme Misconduct category of offences. Where before 10 months was the limit, this, Riot feels, is not appropriate for actual domestic abuse. Thus, the firm is adjusting the limit to an indefinite ban.