Riot Games is reversing its incredibly controversial decision to remove Hextech Chests, per a Dev Blog published this morning.
Riot Games, at the start of Season 15, did a massive overhaul to the player rewards system that was headlined by the removal of Hextech Chests, the free cosmetics-granting system. This was met with mass outrage from the LoL player base, practically every video and social media post about the game from the developer has been flooded with fans making jokes at Riot’s expense about the removal. It’s one of the most universally unpopular decisions I’ve seen Riot make in 15 years of playing this game. And yet, since the decision was made at the behest of Riot’s profit motive, it seemed like it was going to stick. But, early this morning, I was proven very wrong.
Hextech Chests are back, Riot Games announces
In a developer blog posted to Riot Games’ social media on February 26th, Riot Games announced that Hextech Chests’ removal was being reversed. Starting next patch, the beginning of Season 15 Act 2, players will be able to earn up to 10 Chests and Keys per Act of a season. This translates 20 Chests and their keys per Season, of which each year will have 3 Seasons, allowing for 60 chests per year. At the same time, Riot is slashing the Blue Essence prices of the entire League of Legends roster.
Riot Games released a circumspect and apologetic Developer Blog this morning, in which it acknowledged that its changes at the start of the season had fallen short for essentially the entire player base, and announced changes to rectify these unpopular reworks. They also announced that the entire Blue Essence cost of every champion would be reduced by half, making it wildly easier for new players to purchase champions to try out characters. Riot is reversing course in a serious fashion, and still pushing.
Hextech Chest changes
The specific Hextech Chest changes are as follows:
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Starting in Act 2, which is the patch next week, players will be able to earn up to 10 Chests and Keys per Act.
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Eight will be spread throughout the free Pass instead of the Seasonal skin and the 1350 or Lower Skin, in response to player feedback.
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The other two will be earnable through the Honor system.
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Hextech Chests will be the exact same Chests as the ones players received previously through Champ Mastery.
- This is an annual maximum of 60 Hextech Chests, with 3×2 Seasons and Acts, and 10 Chests Per Act.
This change looks to continue Riot’s new focus on Seasons, Acts, and Battle Passes – while still granting the chests for free. Notably, this means that there won’t be a free cosmetic in each season’s Battle Pass, instead replaced by the aforementioned Hextech Chests. The other two chests will be locked behind Honor, a system that Riot decided to move to Battle Pass XP instead of Honor Capsules in an upcoming change. In one fell swoop, Riot undoes the massive mistake and manages to elegantly tie the new Honor system in with the Chest system.
Riot Games delays Exalted Skins
In the same announcement, Riot acknowledged feedback that the Exalted Skins that had been published fell short of the price tag asked for them. Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser, the lore tie-in skin for Mordekaiser for the Noxus season, would be delayed in order to better fulfill the play fantasy of these high-price cosmetics.
Exalted Skins, with $250 USD required on rolls in the new Gacha system, were a big miss with many fans, and Riot has decided to take more time to provide more payoff and value to the players who are willing to spent this kind of significant money on their premium cosmetic products.
Giving Riot its roses, after the thorns
Riot finished off the announcement with the following statement:
“Now, as we wrap up, we want to acknowledge that we know getting League to the right place isn’t about just one set of changes. It’s about continually refining and improving the game. We think today’s updates are an important step, and we’ll keep tracking how these changes feel, talking with all of you about how things are landing, and making adjustments. We’ve always built League along with all you, the community. Thank you for sticking with us and hearing us out, and we look forward to continuing to work with you to make sure League is the best game it can be. Thanks so much, and we’ll see you on the Rift.”
Here’s where I land on this series of announcements: I think it’s fantastic. I think the best changes, however, as the price changes to champions to accommodate new players. League of Legends needs new blood, new fans, new people now more than ever. Enfranchised players are going to be over the moon about Hextech Chests, the increased Clash schedule. Even fans of premium cosmetics are getting better products. If the outrage over the changes at the start of the season were warranted, and I believe it was, then the subsequent praise for these changes is equally so.
Riot saw the error of their ways and corrected course as quickly as this large of a systemic overhaul can do. This is a huge win for League of Legends fans new, old, and anywhere in between. Many aspects of these changes felt well thought through, and surprisingly elegant. The original decisions may have been unwise, but the solution is a massive improvement.
