Head of League Studio Andrei van Roon says expensive skins are ‘needed’ (Riot Games)
Studio head Andrei van Roon says £400 League Of Legends skin is ‘needed’ to keep esports financially sustainable, but fans fiercely disagree.
League Of Legends’ best ever player, Faker, is the first one to be inducted into the Hall Of Legends this month – a Hall Of Fame for League Of Legends greats – and to celebrate the event Riot Games is offering fans a purchasable battle pass with rewards and cosmetics.
One particular set of skins, however, ranging from £39 to £400, was condemned as an ‘insult’, with one fan saying: ‘It’s a celebration, poor people not invited.’
Now a League Of Legends head has tried to defend the price of the Ahri cosmetic on social media, saying it’s ‘needed’ for the greater good of esports, only to be downvoted into oblivion by fans.
Andrei van Roon, the head of League Studio, commented in a Reddit thread, saying:
‘There’s a good opportunity to both celebrate iconic pro players and help cover the costs of esports (which is funded primarily by a mixture of sponsorships and in game cosmetic sales).’
van Roon goes on to say that they ‘should offer content at a wide range of different price points’, and that the £15 battle pass ‘should be a really strong core offering with a lot of stuff to it’.
van Roon says this is just the way it has to be, seemingly referring to the special occasion of the Hall Of Legends as a good time to offer expensive skins:
‘This is a time when we believe we should also offer really expensive versions, akin to collectors editions/collectibles in other contexts. Those are created for a very small part of the audience that wants that sort of price point in exchange for a lot more exclusivity.
‘Doing so will almost certainly create frustrations from people who aren’t interested in that price. We still think it’s the needed thing as part of our work on making esports financially sustainable, as part of our commitment and investment to the LoL esports scene for the long term,’ he says.
His comment has been been downvoted 1,000 times, and fans are unanimous in their disagreement with van Roon.
‘The hall of fame is supposed to be a celebration of players who have dedicated everything to your game, and instead of the player base being able to celebrate the best players of all time, 99.9% of them are excluded from participating. It’s such a tarnish on what is supposed to be a celebration of the best,’ replies xSimnel.
The Hall Of Legends event starts Wednesday, June 12, and lasts for a month, and many fans are arguing that it’s not inclusive as only fans who buy the battle pass can participate.
Though the event has a fair share of rewards for those who buy access to the event, fans will still have to earn them by completing challenges.
Expensive skins and battle passes is nothing new in video games, or League Of Legends, but Riot Games has hit a nerve with its latest offering, which has put a dent in what was supposed to be a celebratory occasion.
This is what £400 gets you in the Ahri skin bundle (Riot Games)
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