The surprising reason for the skin change for Teemo. This one was supposed to refer too much to the President of China, Xi JinPing
LoL developers decided to change the Teemo skin. For what reason? This one probably refers too much to the President of China, Xi Jinping.
Probably most League of Legends players know well that the developers censor the game for the Chinese market. Nudity, even in its slightest form, is removed from splash art, and skulls are replaced with other accessories.
Now it turns out that the New Year’s skin for Teemo, Firecracker, has been changed. In addition to the appearance of the ultimate, a well-known mushrooms, the emote has also received minor corrections.
Teemo similar to the President of China?
In China, censorship is at a really high level, and you can go to jail for unflattering statements about the president. Entering his name in the SMS results in the deletion of the message or even a blockade. Some try to bypass censorship and use words that are associated with the president, but not directly.
A good example is an interesting story about President Xi Jinping’s visit to the famous baozi restaurent “庆丰 包子铺” (qingfeng baozi restaurant). It was his first public visit and was remembered very well. Since then, people have started using the words baozi and emperor qingfend to refer to him… not for long, because these phrases were also blocked, just like the president’s name.
The above story is not just an example. It directly relates to the case of the Teemo skin, and this is probably one of the reasons why it was changed. In the original, the little mushroomer was placing baozi and the dish was also on his emote.
Now they have been replaced by another traditional Chinese dish, dumplings, which are no longer directly associated with the president.
However, this reason is not official. This is just an assumption of League of Legends players who know the culture of China. On the other hand, there is a really small chance that Riot will actually admit that the change was related to appealing to the huge eastern market.