Hey everyone, I’m Jon, aka Bellissimoh, and I’m the Product Lead for
Personalization and Events here on the League Dev Team.
Let’s not waste any time and get into some of the things we have planned for 2021.
With over 150 champions in League, there are a lot of mains to make skins for.
So in 2020, we stepped up the number of skins that we ship each year in hopes that
champion mains would no longer have to wait years between skins.
But that doesn't mean our work is done.
There are still some champions who haven’t gotten a skin in a while.
So this year, you can expect something for…
Fiddlesticks, Tahm Kench, Corki, Camille, Galio, Lulu, Nautilus, Wukong,
Nunu, Sejuani, Rumble, Yuumi, and Twitch.
If your favorite champion isn’t on the list, don’t worry.
There are lots more to come, as we plan to ship over 140 skins this year.
This also includes skins for some of our more popular champions, including
Vayne, Caitlyn, and Blitzcrank.
For any given thematic, there’s only so many champions that really make sense in that world.
With us making more and more skins every year, it means that we run into a
problem that we call “thematic exhaustion.”
This means that we’ve either run out of champions that work well in that thematic,
or players show their lack of interest through purchase rate, play rate, and feedback.
All of this indicates that we should keep trying new things.
We’ll still be revisiting some of our most popular thematics this year, like
PROJECT and Battle Academia, but we also want to explore new worlds.
In February we’ll be celebrating Lunar New Year with a brand new thematic.
Set in 2057, the year of the Ox, Lunar Beast is a world where futuristic
cityscapes and ancient temples collide.
High-fashion streetwear with a touch of traditional elegance is the style of
this year's Lunar New Year celebration.
Here’s a first look at Fiora, Jarvan, and Alistar, who are all part of this
year’s Lunar Beast squad.
If psychedelic, retro-futurism in space is more your vibe, then good news.
Our second major thematic of the year is Space Groove, an eccentric take on a
sci-fi universe full of far-out fun and color.
The laws of physics and logic don’t always apply here, but some of our
favorite champions just really dig that, man.
We have lots of ideas for new thematics, and we’d love your help in
prioritizing which ones you want to see the most.
So this week, we’re holding a player choice vote between three thematics
that we’ve been exploring, code-named Monster Tamers, Crime City Nightmare,
and Debonair 2.0.
Monster Tamers is a world where champions harness powerful creatures
from across Runeterra to challenge each other in high-stakes matches.
In Crime City Nightmare, we focus on the crime-scape that is Valoran City,
where a street war takes a dark and horrifying turn, as a mysterious figure
introduces those desperate for power to an ancient Cthulhu-inspired evil.
Finally we have Debonair 2.0.
In a world where powerful elixirs grant extraordinary abilities, two rival
clubs vie for power.
Classy opulence meets modern noir as champions work together to take back
what they believe is theirs.
We’re going to ship whichever thematic gets the most votes this year, and we
may revisit some of the others later, depending on your interest and feedback.
We’ve been working to improve events on League, and this year, there are three
main areas we want to focus on.
For starters, we’re going to keep running featured game modes alongside
every major event.
One of our biggest learnings last year was that players most actively played
modes that amplify champion fantasies.
For example, in URF we amplify fantasies by asking “What if my
champion can cast all the time?”
Or in One for All we ask “What if my champion got to stack with itself?”
We believe that there are other interesting ways to amplify champion
fantasies and will be exploring a new mode in 2021, as well as bringing back
our existing roster of rotating game modes.
The second area we’d like to focus on is the Event Pass system.
2020 was a crazy year, and while we were able to ship a lot of content,
we weren’t able to get to some of the Event Pass changes that we were hoping to.
We think clarity and ease of experience can improve a lot, and we’ll be sharing
more details on our plans to revamp the system in the first half of this year.
Finally, one of the things that made Spirit Blossom stand out from other
events was that it was centered around the lore of Runeterra.
We’ve gotten feedback that you want to see Runeterra’s stories move
forward, the world evolve, and League's champions continue their journeys.
At the end of Spirit Blossom, Ahri and Yasuo left Ionia on an adventure to Bilgewater.
Their story will continue in “The Ruined King: A League of Legends Story.”
But things aren’t going to end there.
Viego’s back, and we’ll be following his path of destruction in League PC
later this year.
Where will the Ruination spread to next?
Who can stand up to the Ruined King?
And who will fall?
Thanks so much for watching.
The only reason we get to do any of this cool stuff is because of
your continued support.
So on behalf of the League Dev Team, thank you.