Last week, Respawn revealed its partnership with Chinatown Market to provide Apex Legends with skins based on the brand, including the Sundown Desperado skin for Bloodhound and the Mic Check skin for Lifeline. revealed. The set was scheduled to roll out on March 30, but Respawn announced today that it has been put on hold due to the renaming of Chinatown Market itself.

Chinatown Market announced the rebranding earlier this afternoon, stating that "the Asian American community rightfully demands that we all think and act more honestly."

"Our name, inspired by the stores, people, and vibrancy of New York City's Canal Street and Chinatown, is not the name we should use," the company tweeted. 'We did not fully consider what the name would mean to the Chinatown community around the world. Now is the time to do the right thing and we are committed to being part of the change."

The new name will be announced "in the coming months," and until then, proceeds from existing Chinatown Market branded merchandise will be donated to non-profit organizations that support the AAPI (Asian American Pacific Islander) community.

It is fair to assume that this name change announcement came as a surprise to Respawn and EA, since Lifeline's Mic Check skin was just released yesterday. However, just hours after Chinatown Market's announcement, Respawn tweeted in support of it.

"To support our friend @ChinatownMarket's decision to rebrand, we will be launching CTM branded in-game skins tomorrow at @playapex." The skins will return with a fresh look after the rebrand"

.

The Chinatown Market name change comes amid a surge in anti-Asian hate crimes and violence in the US and around the world. A recent NBC report, citing an analysis by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, stated that overall hate crimes in 16 major U.S. cities fell 7% in 2020, but those targeting Asians increased nearly 150%. Much of this sudden spike is attributed to former U.S. President Donald Trump's racist rhetoric. During his tenure, he repeatedly used terms such as "China virus" and "canker sores" to describe the Covid-19 pandemic.