Riot’s Secret Plan to Remake ‘League of Legends’

Riot Has a Secret Plan to Remake Its ‘League of Legends’ Game - Bloomberg Revamped version dubbed ‘League Next’ scheduled for 2027. Riot Games is working on a massive overhaul of its flagship title, League of Legends, which is played by over 100 million people monthly. This version, internally called ‘League Next,’ is set to be the biggest update in the game’s history, according to five current and former employees. The target launch is 2027. The plan is to re-imagine the game’s visual aesthetics—including characters, UI, and maps—to make League more appealing to new players. The dev team is also reworking the technical foundation to make updates easier to deploy. Riot recently added a new keyboard control scheme that might be easier for beginners. Sources said internal restructuring was also announced, but they requested anonymity as the info hasn't been made public. After Bloomberg reported the news on Thursday, Riot posted a video confirming a massive update is underway, mentioning changes to the game launcher and gameplay. Paul Bellezza, LoL Executive Producer, stated, 'We are completely overhauling the new player experience. Once we’re done, it’ll be the best time in history to drag your friends into League.' Released in 2009, LoL remains one of the world's most popular games. It’s a free-to-play title where Riot, a subsidiary of Tencent, earns revenue through digital cosmetics. While LoL has held up better than competitors in a slowing market, sources told Bloomberg that the player base has declined. Riot’s other title, Valorant, is currently generating more revenue. Riot has tried diversifying with new titles and the $250 million Netflix series Arcane. Last year, the company laid off 530 employees and scaled back some projects. CEO Dylan Jadeja stated Riot was spread too thin and needed a sharper focus.

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The most interesting part of the article was the very end. Even with the gaming industry stalling, League has survived better than others, but Bloomberg sources say the player count is actually dropping. Meanwhile, Riot's other game, Valorant, is apparently making more money. It’s pretty shocking that Valorant earns more than League. I wonder if it has more players or if they're just better at squeezing money out of people. Valorant skins are crazy expensive to begin with, and even after you buy them, you have to spend more currency to unlock animations and sounds. On the flip side, League skin quality feels like it's tanked. Even Lux, the poster child for skin monetization, reportedly had her charity skin sell less than previous ones this year. Back in the day, even charity skins for unpopular 'monster' champs like Ornn (the big goat), Cho'Gath (the giant bug), or Taliyah (just a normal human) sold way better.

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