Riot Games slammed the rework hammer on yet another League of Legends esports team emote, replacing an LEC-branded design with a fish to censor the hook-cutting toxicity.
The League community received custom-animated emotes from major esports teams, but some seemed to have slipped past the developer’s radar. According to the changes showcased by Skin Spotlights, the team BDS emote previously showed a Pengu holding a fishing stick with the infamous hook ping. Riot removed the hook/bait ping in Sept. 2023 due to its “unacceptable” use in matches. Now, after Riot’s rework, the emote’s hook symbol has been censored with a fish.
There was an uproar in the community about the sudden change, and the BDS social media manager said it’s an “incompetence in esports chapter 436.” They criticized Riot’s way of dealing with the situation, since the developer “validated an emote” only to make a U-turn and change it shortly after.
“We end up with an emote that has no meaning or identity, and we’re going to have to communicate about it. It’s a waste of time, money, and especially motivation,” the social media manager added.
This comes a few days after the developer changed 100 Thieves’ emote. The North American team’s emote initially showed Akali with her finger and thumb together, which many players felt was too suggestive. So, Riot changed the emote to show Akali’s hand behind her ear, instead.
While the move certainly showcases Riot’s vision for curbing toxicity, Redditors are having none of it. Many fans on Reddit are questioning the sudden change, especially given Riot’s vetting process approved the emote, and it was also a part of the initial announcement. Other players think toxicity has reached its peak in League, since we can’t even have a hook emote without players using it to send derogatory messages.
It remains to be seen if the other team’s emotes will also be scrutinized and reworked until their official release in League.
