As part of the Xbox Showcase, Riot Games made a big announcement. Their games, including League of Legends, are coming to Xbox Game Pass. This is particularly interesting for complete newcomers, as they will get content that veterans have grinded for months and years.
What was specifically announced? Riot Games will bring all five games to Game Pass. Each game offers interesting bonuses:
- In League of Legends, all 159 champions will be unlocked immediately at launch. You can also use the new champions like Bel’Veth, who has just been released, right at launch.
- In Valorant, all 18 current agents and also future new ones will be unlocked immediately.
- In League of Legends: Wild Rift – the mobile version of LoL – you will have access to all 80 champions.
- In the card game Legends of Runeterra, you will unlock the basic decks.
- In Teamfight Tactics, you will have access to a rotation of “Little Legends”, which are avatars in the game.
This offer is particularly strong for newcomers as it saves them a lot of money or months of grinding. However, you will only keep the bonuses as long as you maintain an active Game Pass subscription.
When are the games coming to Game Pass? The release has been announced for “this winter”. However, in the overview of all 36 new games in Game Pass, they appear on the 2023 page. It is therefore likely that the release will occur sometime in January/February 2023.
New players in LoL save over 700 euros or years of grind
How “big” is the change really? Anyone who wants to have all 159 champions in League of Legends has two options.
On the one hand, you can collect and spend the in-game currency “Blue Essence”. You get this for your first win of the day, for level-ups, and through missions during an event. However, you now need over 600,000 Blue Essence for all champions, and anyone who does not regularly participate in events needs about an account level of 450.
For comparison: MagiFelix, a well-known LoL player and currently ranked 1 in the EU West ladder, has an account level of 473 with his account MagiFelix5. With this account, he has reached the highest rank “Challenger” in the ladder for four years and has played over 1,200 games in 2022 alone. There is a lot of effort involved.
The alternative would be to use real money. For all champions, you need over 130,000 Riot Points, which costs over 700 euros. The exact price is difficult to determine, as there are always discount promotions, bundles, and price adjustments for older champions.
Nevertheless, the Game Pass can be paid for several years for 700 euros.
Is this already Pay2Win? Not really. In the current meta, almost all champions are playable – only 5 out of 159 characters are not touched by the pros in tournaments. Even with the basic set of heroes and the first cheap purchases with real money, you can already have a significant impact.
Why is the offer still so interesting? Newcomers face a significant disadvantage: They do not know which champion and which playstyle suits them. This can quickly lead to unlocking the wrong champions or overlooking the hero that would perfectly fit them for years.
The package from the Game Pass now allows trying out all champions in regular matches. And this should greatly ease the experience for beginners and bring them more enjoyment in gameplay.
Many players also refer to this change as “huge” in the LoL reddit:
- Bz6 writes: “This is a huge change for players who want to try LoL. […] But it totally makes sense when you think about the fact that Wild Rift will soon land on consoles.”
- IcyPanda123 hopes for an influx of new players: “I hope this will make more people willing to try LoL. I think that people who are unable to try all the super cool looking, expensive champs have always been deterred. I have always thought Riot should just make all champs free.”
- Guaranic sees a win-win situation: “This absolutely makes sense and is absurdly big news. Microsoft wants “must-have” games (and new LoL-addicted players will maintain their subscriptions). Riot wants new players, especially those who are not from their regular hardcore audience.”
What do you think about the new offer from Riot Games and the Game Pass? Do you like the implementation of free-to-play games in the subscription model, or would you have wished for other bonuses?
More on the Xbox Showcase can be found in our overview:
Xbox & Bethesda Showcase 2022: All highlights and trailers in the overview for watching
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