Riot Games has announced its plans for 2021 across their gaming portfolio. There are big plans for every game, with related content themes for League of Legends and their sister titles. Riot Games revealed this information in a 50-minute presentation and we break down the biggest takeaways from the announcement.
Viego, the Ruined King, is Riot Games’ focus for 2021, with the mists featured in all of Riot’s League of Legends themed games. (Photo courtesy Riot Games)
League of Legends
League of Legends is the title with the newest features coming in 2021. As of the announcement video, Season One for 2021 is underway, bring a whole new year of content releases, esports and more.
Champions
Riot implemented a good champion release cycle in 2020 with one champion filling every role. They’re continuing with this method, releasing six new champions for 2021. The first one is Viego, the mysterious Ruined King that is the lore’s centerpiece for the majority of 2021.
Viego is a Jungler, with abilities that allow him to gank, lockdown and execute his victim. There is more to know about this champion, so keep your eyes peeled.
Furthermore, three other champions are releasing, with an AP fighter in the top lane, an artillery mage and an unconventional marksman like Senna. These champions possess lore links to Viego, meaning there is a huge lore update featuring the Ruined King. The AP fighter even has hidden teasers in the new Riot Games title, the Ruined King.
Finally, Riot are allowing players to vote on which older champions need modernizing once again. The likes of Shyvana, Nocturn and more are among the list, and players can vote on them here.
P.S. Dr. Mundo’s update is still in the works, with more information coming soon.
General Changes
Riot are sprucing League of Legends with a plethora of general changes to make it feel better to play both in and out of the game. First up is a year-long lore event. LoL fans like lore and the new Ruined King narrative is only going to ramp up as the year goes by.
Riot is keeping an eye out on Mythic balance for the meta enthusiasts and ladder players since they want their design to remain meaningful with strategic diversity uncompromised. Furthermore, players can now climb ranked without needing to promotion series for every division in their tier. Players will still need to complete a promotion series when rising to a new tier, such a gold.
Clash is a much more casual competitive mode, but 28 million people are keen to win their Clash bracket. The next Clash event kicks off January 16th-17th, and players do not need to have complete their placements for this event only. Also, Riot plans to test the waters for weekday clash events to enable more people to get involved. Riot is also introducing a free agent system to allow free agents to join teams and fill holes in a roster.
Progression is another talking point as Riot feel there are too many disconnected progression systems. There will be new systems that better show off the player’s skill and how passionate some players are for their champion pool.
Thematic
Riot Games are looking at new themes while continuing to release skins in popular themes. Project and Battle Academia are two older skin lines getting more releases, along with a new Lunar Beast skin line, and a Space Groove 60’s theme. Players can also vote on a skin line of their choice, with the options on a monster tamer theme, Crime City Nightmare, or Debonair 2.0.
Furthermore, there will be more lore tie-ins and limited-time game modes for people to enjoy in 2021. It is safe to say there is a lot of cool features coming in 2021.
Worlds 2021
Heading into 2021, we knew already China was getting another year hosting Worlds. Worlds 2021 now as a home city, centered at Shenzhen. Shenzhen is China’s hub for technology and innovation and is a natural fit to host the Finals. Following changes to the Worlds 2020 schedule and locations, Worlds 2021 will return to a multi-city format for what is expected to be the largest event in LoL Esports history, toppling 2020’s online event, where DAWMON Gaming took home the glory.
Wild Rift
General
Wild Rift is League of Legends’ sister title, designed and built exclusively around handheld and mobile devices. The game is very popular, so there are new quality of life changes coming to Wild Rift. One such feature is a Ping system, allowing players to communicate as well as their PC counterparts. Another feature is a preferred role, where players can choose their preferred role before heading into a game.
Wild Rift is getting a massive content expansion, with many Yordles becoming playable. The Yordle expedition features content based on Teemo, Kennen, Lulu, Corki and more. Expect more of these content and lore events to keep Wild Rift growing throughout 2021.
Wild Rift is also continuing its global beta role out, with the Americas getting the titles in the Spring. Popular LoL game mode, ARAM is coming to Wild Rift for players to test out soon.
Esports
As League of Legends begins its next decade of growth, Riot Games are expanding into Wild Rift Esports. In 2021, Riot will take the initial steps to create a global esports scene, just like their TFT scene. Wild Rift esports will kick off in SEA and Japan coming in early 2021.
Legends of Runeterra
Legends of Runeterra continues to grow as a popular PC Card Game. Some of LoR’s 2021 content cycle will feature new expansions, involving the Shurima expansion, Targon card, Moon weapons, and coop modes.
As with other LoL titles, Legends of Runeterra will share content themes throughout the year. Viego, the Ruined King is afflicting pain across LoR as well. Expect Ruined King-themed content and narratives on LoR too.
Team Fight Tactics
TFT is getting a new mid-season set very soon, along with a partial ranked reset. Old champions are coming back, along with a few new surprises here and there. With the Lunar New Year very soon, the new seasonal set with feature the Lunar Beast theme that LoL is launching in time for the new year. The new set goes live in 11.2, so TFT fans should not have long to wait.
Later in the year, TFT fans will have a new set to look forward to sometime in Spring. The theme of the set is corruption, with the fight between different armies of good and evil. It seems like there is Ruined King, Devil, and other good and evil themes in store later in the year. Lastly, there is a new shorter game mode coming out for those short on time.
TFT Esports is getting a boost. The Fates Championship underway is getting a new spectator upgrade, in time for the Fates Finals. Fans interested in TFT Esports have something to look forward too.
That is all for the Riot Games announcement. Plenty is coming out for every singe Riot Games title, so hopefully, there is something that keeps you excited for months to come.
