League of Legends players are up in arms over a new gacha system putting a high-end cosmetic behind a paywall of up to $200.
Earlier this week, developer Riot Games revealed the new skins heading to the game with its next patch. As well as a suite of introductions to the game's Cosmic skinline, the patch includes a 'Chroma' - a recolor of an existing skin, sold separately - for Dark Cosmic Jhin, which was released in 2019.
While the Chroma - dubbed Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin - offers new art and a scarlet twist on the line's purple color scheme, as with any similar cosmetic it won't change anything about the character's animations. The greater issue among the community, however, is the gacha-style system that's been introduced to grant access to the cosmetic.
Dataminer Julex has determined that purchasing new capsules offers a chance to find the Erasure chroma, but the only way to guarantee a drop is to purchase 30 pulls. That comes at a total cost of 22,500 of League of Legends' premium currency, which will set you back $200 for the cheapest bundles.
The response has been significant. While League of Legends does have a reroll system allowing players to earn random cosmetics, entry into that system is based on rewards you've already earned by playing the game. For many players, this system steps over a line towards full-fledged gacha that's not been present in the game during its decade-long history.
One Reddit post describes the system as "a new low point," decrying the monetization processes this might kickstart elsewhere in the game. Noting the prevalence of systems that have allowed players to save up their reroll currency in order to ensure they get what they want, there's a sense that this is a slippery slope that's only likely to lead to more of these loot drops.
Other players are drawing comparisons to the systems implemented by former League of Legends SEA publisher Garena, claiming that this system is actually less generous than the literal gacha mechanics implemented in that region. There's also a sentiment that Riot is testing the waters here, attempting to determine how this system will be adopted by the wider community. Thus far, it's not exactly been well-received.
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