League of Legends champion and virtual pop idol Seraphine has been at the heart of much controversy due to missteps by Riot Games involving the character's Twitter marketing campaign, lackluster in-game lore, and a clear focus on appealing to younger fans over the game's core player base.
Seraphina's unorthodox marketing campaign via Twitter portrayed a young girl working at her Dad's tapioca shop, occasionally talking about League of Legends and sharing dreams of becoming a member of the fictional K-pop inspired girl group, K/DA. While the campaign drew attention from fans across the board, long-time League of Legends fans were quick to notice the stark contrast between Seraphine's slice of life reveal and that of past Champions, who typically have their reveal in the form of comics, cinematics, and biographies.
Confusion quickly turned to disappointment (evidenced in a Reddit post by u/BurningCactusRage) once Seraphine's in-game details came to light, and fans became aware of just how incredibly similar her abilities were to those of another champion, Sona, a character who has been in League of Legends for over 10 years. In addition, Seraphine’s official in-game lore, when explaining from where her powers derived, was comprised of little more than a few short paragraphs when compared to the shocking amount of backstory Riot Games had produced for the character's pop idol persona. To make matters worse, Seraphine’s reveal also cast a shadow over an arguably far more interesting character, Samira, a plucky and fearless pirate-inspired champion with a number of unique and interesting abilities, that players were not made aware of until shortly before her release.
Seraphine's Controversy Led To Mild Changes
Riot's decision to focus their efforts primarily on Seraphine's pop idol aspirations has also negatively impacted the champion's skins. While Seraphine’s Indie and Rising Star skins are decent enough, her K-pop-inspired Superstar look is arguably the worst skin in the game when taking into account the $20 price, which is made all the more shocking when considering the sheer amount of hype that went into marketing her pop idol persona. Furthermore, Seraphine’s pop star passion only extends to her online persona, having nothing to do with the champion's in-game lore, and its reference in League of Legends is viewed by many in the community as simply another push by Riot Games to sell more skins by appealing to young anime and K-pop fans, rather than providing the more traditional medieval-fantasy or sci-fi skins longtime fans have become accustomed to.
Due to the immense fan backlash, Riot Games has since updated Seraphine's official League of Legends lore to include a more fleshed and somewhat retconned backstory. The champion's skills have also been ever-so-slightly tweaked in an attempt to set her apart from Sona, and she continues to receive balance tweaks via scheduled LoL updates. However, the $20 purchase price for Seraphine's K/DA ALL OUT kit remains the same, and there are currently no signs that she will receive an original skin to compliment her updated in-game lore.
With Seraphine's Twitter account having gone quiet since November 2020, it seems safe to say that Riot Games has stepped away from the champion's more controversial social media presence, at least for the time being. While this is surely a positive development for longtime League of Legend players, younger fans who got caught up in the pop idol's social media drama are sure to be disappointed. Riot will need to reconsider its approach to marketing champions going forward, so that they can appeal to new players while also keeping their existing player base happy.