League Of Legends Fans Think The Game Is Moving Backwards

League of Legends has always been a free-to-play game supplemented by the sales of cosmetics and champions. When I began playing in 2014, unlocking champions was by no means a speedy process. Eventually, the Hextech Crafting system was introduced, adding free chests and keys that could be used to expedite the champion unlocking process without paying real currency. However, League of Legends’ 2025 Season has once again changed this process, slowing progression to a crawl.

These changes follow a recent shift in strategy by Riot Games to introduce more gacha elements to game’s monetisation. There used to be clearly defined price tiers for skins based on how much effort went into their production and how much of the champion’s model had been changed. This is still the case, but the addition of ludicrously expensive cosmetics like Immortalised Legend Ahri ($430~), is designed to offer big spenders, often called whales, an outlet for spending large amounts of money. This trend has continued, with the introduction of paid battle passes and other microtransactions designed to encourage spending.

Big Money Skins

At the end of the day, these are optional cosmetic purchases that aren’t necessary for you to play League of Legends. I’ve played League for over a decade and have only purchased a handful of skins, but there’s no point pretending that aggressive marketing and other practices designed to extract money don’t work. It’s science and has little to do with a consumer’s willpower, despite the popular narrative to the contrary.

A recent Reddit thread by Folli_YouTube has become a rallying point for players to voice their concerns about the direction of League of Legends. The original poster is bemoaning some of the poor design choices Riot has made over the years, including their continued failure to address the game’s buggy client, a problem that has persisted since League’s inception in 2011.

A commenter (Shoddy_Amphibian5645) called out the aforementioned “Gachafication” of League of Legends: “I’m not going to lie, I was kind of disappointed when I opened the crafting tab and that little gacha video of Sett’s skin played. For a second I thought Riot was adding [advertisements], but no, it’s a full-on gachafication of League.” The skin in question is Radiant Serpent Sett, a $250 cosmetic added to “celebrate” the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Another respondent named Mfunebre has dubbed the recent decisions by Riot: the “enshittification” of League. “It’s what happens when companies decide they have hit critical market share and no longer wish to focus on onboarding new customers, but rather progressively squeeze their current base for as long as they will tolerate,” they write.

Indeed, Riot Games has been trying to leverage the success of League of Legends to launch a diverse range of projects over the past decade. The expansion of the game’s esports scene into a franchised model has seen mixed success, with multiple partner teams ultimately selling their league spots after failing to see a return on investment.

Riot Forge was essentially the company’s indie publishing wing before it was wound down last year. Although the games published by Riot Forge were critically successful, none of these games found significant commercial success. Riot has also admitted that Legends of Runeterra isn’t a money-maker, and has reduced support for that product as a result.

Arcane is an award-winning show and has surely boosted the number of people interested in the League of Legends IP, but it wasn’t a profitable venture because of how expensive its production was, according to reports.

The increased focus on generating revenue from Riot’s most successful product could be in response to the company’s mixed fortunes in diversifying its business.