Riot released a skin bundle for the legendary League of Legends player Faker. The problem: The skin bundle in the “Signature” variant costs 59,260 RP, which is about €514.27. Now, Game Director Pu “PuPuLasers” Liu has commented on the skins and the outrage of the players.
What does Riot have to say about the anger surrounding the skin? In an interview with PCGamesN, they discussed rare skins and how to proceed with them in the future. After all, the €500 skin was not the first skin that the League of Legends community had been upset about regarding its price.
Game Director Pu “PuPuLasers” Liu notes, “People were very upset about it, not just a little bit.” He further says, “I also think it is somewhat justified” that League of Legends is a “14-year-old product” and that players are “used to everything being below a certain price level.”
But alongside understanding the fans’ anger, he also explains why Riot still needs these skins.
Faker, to whom the skin is dedicated, is arguably one of the most legendary LoL players since:
The skins are for showing off
Why does Riot need these skins? The Game Director clearly states why Riot has the skins in the game. A small number of players should be able to buy them and show them off.
“We need to have [these rare skins]. This kind of product is intended for a very small percentage of our players who can buy them and flex. […]” So those with the money should buy the skins and be able to show off.
He also mentions that the expensive skins only make up a very small portion of the skins that League of Legends received last year. He would also expect this to continue in the future, with expensive skins only making up a small part.
However, the Game Director is not finished yet. He thinks it’s important to let players know what situation League of Legends is in. It is a competitive game that only sells skins and does not want to do anything that resembles Pay2Win in any way. Therefore, the majority of players would receive all content for free.
Who are the skins intended for? Pu “PuPuLasers” Liu admits: “Most of our revenue comes from a small single-digit percentage of players; it’s simply the reality that casual players who spend a lot of money have an disproportionately large share of the profitability of the business.”
The Riot team has considered that there are players willing to spend $200 a month on their hobby, and Liu says, “God knows how much I’ve spent on Warhammer figures.”
“But it is really important that we capture this willingness and ability to spend money [for those who can afford it],” he says in the interview. So Riot also wants to offer something for players who want to spend more money on skins.
But they would also consider who would buy the skins: “It would look bad for us if a lot of people who hadn’t spent much on League suddenly bought the Signature bundle – we would say: ‘Oh God, what have we done?'”
The skins are meant to help eSports
How are the skins meant to help eSports? Riot involves teams in the skins dedicated to them. The Game Director states that 30 % of the revenue, not profit, would flow into eSports.
Moreover, Riot prefers to offer players who have already spent money on the game in the past, opportunities to spend money again, rather than targeting free players.
According to the Game Director, Riot believes that there may be too high a percentage of players who invest money in a free-to-play game. This would mean in reverse: “This means that the free-to-play experience isn’t good enough compared to the paid experience.”
Are the prices thus justified? Whether the prices are more bearable as a result remains open. The expensive skin has been criticized by many for its price previously.
A humorous find was made by the “League of Legends” community on Reddit: While Game Director Pu “PuPuLasers” Liu has probably spent a lot of money on his Warhammer figurines, the game figure of the €500 skin only costs about €242 in Korea.
So those who prefer collecting figurines instead of “League of Legends” skins would get it cheaper. In “League of Legends” eSports, it’s not only heated on the battlefield. A recent dispute between a player and a manager of a Chinese top team escalated quite a bit: World-class player in LoL wants to quit after dispute with manager escalated
