Riot Games Delays Ahri Statue After Fan Reactions

Only 3 days after revealing a new character statue based, on the popular League of Legends champion Ahri, developer Riot Games is halting production due to strong criticism from fans.

Immediately after unveiling the new figure, fans took to the game’s official forums and Reddit sub-page to voice their strong opinions towards the new merchandise. Most criticisms centered around the statue’s facial features not resembling the in-game representation. They also criticized the statue’s elongated neck.

The statue, which Riot called “Lethal Charm,” was supposed to go on sale yesterday. However, it was removed from the Riot Games online merchandise store. Shortly after, Lethal Charm was made available to purchase it was pulled from the shop. It was followed by an official statement from Riot Games Co-Founder Marc Merrill. Merrill addressed the fans’ criticism in his statement:

“We heard players’ feedback on Ahri’s face and want to take this opportunity to revisit this element of her design.”

In the statement, Merrill points out the statue’s facial design as a result of the cost-cutting decisions made regarding the materials used for production. Instead of the expensive polyresin materials used for Riot’s previous character statue, Lethal Charm was made out of a cheaper material called PVC.

“This decision and its associated production processes yielded a loss of resolution in the finer details and structure of Ahri’s face. We also applied Ahri’s eye makeup too heavily in production. All of this resulted in a final product that failed to fully capture Ahri’s unique look.”

There is no word yet if the Ahri statue will return.

How do you feel about the new Ahri statue by Riot Games? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.