The community noticed that there was some Akali update released on the PBE. Unfortunately, Riot has never mentioned it anywhere.
League of Legends is a game that is over a decade old. During this time, many interesting heroes have appeared in it, and each of them stands out in their own way. It’s easy to guess that characters released many years ago will not be as fresh as those released in the last year. This is where reworks and minor updates come in handy. The creators change models, animations, skill effects, or voices of champions.
For the latter, the refresh comes in handy as old characters can appeal to players just as much as the newer ones that were released much later.
While the champion’s voice update is usually not received negatively, it also happens that fans have become very close to the original and changing the voice actor is not received too warmly. It’s even worse when Riot does it without telling the community or asking fans if they want a refreshment.
Akali and her new voice
Akali is an incredibly popular League of Legends hero. The fact that she appeared in two bands – K/DA and True Damage brought her great fame. Due to the presence in such a popular series, hardly anyone doesn’t know her.
This year, the heroine will also receive the Star Guardian skin (and a legendary), which will further boost her popularity as the Star Guardian theme is one of the favorite series of League of Legends fans.
To create a Legendary skin, a separate voice actor is sometimes hired to record new lines for the character. It does not always mean that the lines in other skins will be changed. This time it was different.
Fans noticed that Akali’s voice on PBE was different from the one they knew very well. There was a little confusion because some people did not know if it was a bug or if Riot had prepared an update that was not reported anywhere.
It was finally confirmed that the character will have a new voice actress. Lines that can be heard on the test server were done by Ashly Burch, an actress from Los Angeles.
When the information that Akali would get a new voice spread on the Internet, there was a short explanation why the creators decided to take such a step.
Yes, we want to have a consistent IP and presentation of our heroes as far as our production timelines allow.
We love what Ashly has brought to the characters elsewhere in our universe, so we were excited to be able to make Akali’s voice change in English.
New Voice (Ashly Burch):
Old Voice (Krizia Bajos):
What do the players say? Opinions are quite divided. Some people do not understand why Riot changed a voice that was not particularly outdated (previous dialogue lines were recorded in 2018).
- ALSO – New chromas, icons and presentation of the second part of Star Guardian skins for League of Legends
Some say that the creators behaved really strange. One fan wrote:
It seems to have come out of nowhere, without any warning or conversation about it. I think this is a really weird move.