Summary
- Riot Games removed Hextech chests in League of Legends due to long-term sustainability concerns.
- The developer explained that players had come to rely on chests as one of the only ways to obtain skins, which impacted the game’s revenue.
- Riot doesn’t plan to revert entirely to a time before the feature existed, but skins will now be more difficult to obtain.
Riot Games has shared a video with League of Legends players explaining why it removed Hextech chests, stating that “it was not sustainable in League in the long term.” After the controversial decision to put an end to the highly sought-after Hextech chests, Riot Games gave its reasoning for this and explained what League of Legends‘ plans are moving forward.
League of Legends has been around since 2009 and has undergone significant changes throughout its more than 15 years on the market. What started as a popular Dota clone quickly became one of the best MOBA games in the industry. Although LoL is a free-to-play game, it allows players to spend real money to buy skins and champions. Besides spending money, players could also access skins through Hextech chests, a type of loot box that players obtained simply by playing. However, Riot Games has recently decided to put an end to this feature.
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Following Riot Games’ decision, many League of Legends players called for a boycott, as Hextech chests were the only way many relied on to get skins. Responding to the community’s backlash, Riot released a video as part of its Dev Update, with two developers explaining the reasons behind this controversial move. The developers acknowledged the importance of Hextech chests for certain players but explained that they were not a sustainable business model for the game.
League of Legends Removes Hextech Chests Due to Sustainability Concerns
The developers also commented that free chests had become the primary way for players to obtain League of Legends skins, and most players stopped buying them, jeopardizing one of the only ways the game has to profit and leading to “meaningful diminishing returns.” Although this will directly impact players whose primary way of getting skins was Hextech chests, Riot has also stated that this move doesn’t mean things will completely go back to how they were before this feature existed.
As part of League of Legends’ changes for 2025, Riot has promised to enhance the quality of upcoming skins following community complaints about the latest ones. Though it is still unclear when these changes will hit the game and what the new way for players to get free skins will be after the removal of Hextech chests.
Although Riot’s reasoning seems reasonable considering the current state of video games and the amount of investment that games require for their development, it is also understandable that removing such a popular feature would spark backlash. It remains to be seen how the League of Legends community will react after this latest message.
- Released
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October 27, 2009
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Blood, Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco