The Chinese release of Arcane: League of Legends has reportedly censored romantic scenes between two female characters Vi and Caitlyn.

The scene shows Vi and Caitlyn having a heartfelt conversation and cuddling up to one another, however the Chinese version has the two characters spaced apart through awkward editing. Caitlyn becomes a nondescript blur in some parts and is wholly removed in others, giving the appearance that they’re maintaining a CCP-approved distance from one another.

China gives Arcane a different ending the world is not ready for.#ArcaneSeason2 #Arcane #ArcaneSpoilers pic.twitter.com/pafpzFVIfj

— Gavin (@gavinincinema) November 25, 2024

It’s not uncommon for companies to create versions of their content that are compliant with authoritarian regimes. This usually involves cutting scenes, or even entire characters in order to appease the sensibilities of government censors.

Of course some fans were quick to point out hypocrisy, censorship has become increasingly common when it’s targeted towards sexualized content. Critics argue that this content leads to “objectification” and that it should be censored, while ignoring the fact that many of the same rules and policies intended to censor sexualized content can easily be targeted towards the LGBT+ community.

What’s particularly interesting is that Riot Games is wholly owned by Chinese media giant Tencent, which unfortunately implies that any representation in Arcane was cynically added to extract profit from western audiences.