Riot Games has rushed to update a soon-to-be-released League of Legends<\/em> emote packaged with several LCS-branded designs after the League <\/em>community pointed out how \u201ctoxic\u201d the Akali artwork could be.<\/p>
The League<\/em><\/a> <\/em>emote, which was unveiled earlier this week<\/a>, had depicted assassin champion Akali in a green-washed 100 Thieves jumpsuit with one eye raised and her hand shaped with a finger and thumb squeezed together\u2060\u2014a casual gesture often associated with telling someone they have small genitalia. Today\u2019s update has now changed Akali\u2019s only visible hand to instead cup her ear.<\/p>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/dotesports.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/akali-emote-changes.png\")
It\u2019s unsurprising that Riot made the change so quickly<\/a>, especially considering the League <\/em>developers have been working to delete anything that could be used to promote toxicity<\/a> in ranked queues. This quick rework comes a year after the team removed a \u201cbait\u201d emote<\/a> regularly used to flame struggling players.<\/p>
What is a little surprising is that the Akali emote was even unveiled in its original form considering the major anti-toxicity drive<\/a>. Dot Esports has reached out to Riot PR for further clarity on the design process.<\/p>
The uproar in the League <\/em>fandom has been immediate, with players slamming the rapid rework<\/a>. Some furious players dubbed the change \u201clame\u201d and \u201ccowardly\u201d<\/a> while others shared they’d been prepared<\/a> to \u201cload up more RP… for the first time in I don’t know how long\u201d\u2014a plan now scrapped. \u201cThey legitemately [sic] made such a great emote worthless [and] didn\u2019t even try to make the new version work,\u201d one League <\/em>player wrote.<\/p>
The biggest sentiment that\u2019s emerged across the League <\/em>community was that 100 Thieves had been \u201cscammed\u201d by the update<\/a>; every involved LCS org will be paid a percentage stipend from their emote\u2019s sales. With the change, many now plan to totally boycott the 100T Akali design instead of buying the emote.<\/p>
Either way, the \u201ctoxic\u201d original design won\u2019t be making it to the game. The updated version will become available in League <\/em>Patch 14.17<\/a> alongside the others.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
