High five turned to a low five pretty fast.
Bilibili Gaming toplaner Chen "Bin" Ze-Bin has been hit with a hefty fine by the LPL for declining to do something most jobs don't list in the contract: high-fiving the crowd. After BLG swept EDward Gaming 3-0 on June 3 in the LPL Split 2 playoffs, Bin skipped the post-match stage walkout where players greet fans in a designated interaction area. League operator TJ Sports ruled this a breach of Article 12.2.2 of the LPL Competition Rules, fining him ¥150,000 (around $22,160), issuing a public reprimand, and ordering him into "relevant training and education." The league's framing was direct and surprising to some, saying the skip violated professional standards, disrupted the standardized operation of the competition, and hurt the audience experience.
The detail that turns this from petty to defensible is the money on the other side of the barrier. Fans had reportedly paid for VIP tickets that specifically advertised player interaction as part of the package. The LPL describes fan engagement as a "core duty" of a professional player, not an optional courtesy, and the rulebook backs that up with an actual article number.
The Org Got Dinged Too
What makes the ruling more interesting than a simple player slap is that Bilibili Gaming itself was fined ¥50,000 (around $7,400) under Article 12.5.1, with the league finding the club "negligent" in its pre-match player management and behavioral guidance. In plain terms, the LPL decided the team shares the blame for not making sure its star did the walkout, which quietly turns organisations into enforcement arms responsible for policing their own players' fan-facing conduct. Both Bin and BLG were issued formal warnings on top of the fines, and both reportedly acknowledged the issue and committed to corrections. Holding the org accountable for an individual's behaviour is the precedent here that'll matter long after the high-five clip stops circulating.
A Pattern, and a Messy Aftermath
This isn't an isolated bit of LPL housekeeping, it fits a broader crackdown on player conduct across Riot's regions. Earlier this year, LCK ADC Nam "Diable" Dae-geun was dropped from BNK FEARX's lineup for skipping a fan meet, after which he left for Nongshim RedForce. Just this week in the LEC, Riot fined midlaner Joseph "Jojopyun" Pyun €5,000 for swearing in an on-air interview during the Madrid Roadtrip, and hit Movistar KOI and Karmine Corp with €2,000 each over a heated online spat between the two teams' owners. The Bin case may have the messiest tail of the lot, though. BLG has since promoted academy toplaner Yang "Wenbo" Wen-Bo to the main roster, leaving Bin's status unclear, with Chinese social media reports suggesting he may have walked from the team himself. For a player with three LPL titles and an MSI trophy on his resume, a skipped high-five turning into a benching is quite bad.
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