Just a few days after adjusting the 100 Thieves’ team emote, Riot Games has decided to make another change as the controversy unfolds.
Image Credit: Riot Games
Riot Games adjusts team’s custom emote… again
Just a few days ago, the game developer launched a series of emotes in collaboration with the esports organizations. Not only was it a great opportunity for the teams to showcase their creativity and strengthen their branding ahead of Worlds 2024, but it also became a good chance to generate extra revenues from digital in-game sales.
Unfortunately, what was supposed to be a great moment for the community turned into a big controversy that saw people complaining about the adjustments.
In particular, the two emotes that ended up in the eye of the storm were 100 Thieves and Team BDS, who are facing G2 in the LEC Season Finals. The former pushed out an Akali emote that is often used to taunt and trash talk the enemies. The Swiss team, on the other hand, featured a Pengu holding a fishing rod with a hook.
While the first might have had some “offensive” representation behind it, Team BDS’ design was changed because it resembled the controversial ping to bait the enemies in the game. According to the X account SkinSpotlights, the emote no longer shows an empty bait but it’s covered by a fish.
The backlash from the community… and the team
The community didn’t receive the changes well, calling out Riot for tweaking the emotes despite being approved at first. “Why did Riot even make an emote announcement before going through the vetting process?” said a user on Reddit.
According to Team BDS’ social media producer, the new emote was imposed on the team after Riot gave the initial green light. The esports org is trying to take the changes with a bit of humor, poking fun at the original design.
Both Team BDS and 100 Thieves have responded to the changes by bantering on specific occasions: Team BDS on social media while 100 Thieves made the special “small” gesture following their win against Dignitas last week.
With the cosmetics hitting the live servers on August 27, fans will now wonder whether someone else will be caught making new adjustments.
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