Every time I open the comments section of any post from League of Legends‘ official X account, it’s swamped with screenshots of Hextech Chests – gone but very much not forgotten. As backlash over their removal continues to rage, amplified by Riot’s decision to add Mythic Variants to its new Genshin Impact-style banner system, things seem to be going from bad to worse. Players have complained that the Noxus-inspired map is too dark and skin quality appears to have dropped across the board, all while microtransactions continue to ramp up. Riot has addressed all of these issues and more in its first developer diary of the year, but I suspect it’ll leave players with more questions than answers.
First on the checklist is Blue Essence, Season 1’s biggest controversy. Coming into 2025, Riot chose to scrap various crafting systems – including Hextech and Masterwork chests – in an attempt to streamline rewards and cut out randomization. As a result, League of Legends now has a battle pass feature that’s similar to other multiplayer games, but its implementation has been far from smooth.
The system quickly came under fire for its distinct lack of Blue Essence which, once abundant, has become a rare commodity. Players were initially getting 4,750 BE from the battle pass, but a new champion costs 7,900 BE in their first week, before being reduced to 6,300. That meant that completing the pass in its entirety didn’t give you enough Blue Essence to unlock a new champion.
While Riot was quick to adjust things (admitting that it “screwed up“) that hasn’t stopped a barrage of Hextech Chest-related screenshots in every comments section across every platform, with a new meme that transforms Masked Justice Senna into a vaguely monstrous amalgamation of Hextech Chests going viral on X.
“We want to deliver the best experience that you can play forever without spending anything; so that you only spend money when we’ve made something great that you want to spend money on,” head of League studio Andrei ‘Meddler’ van Roon states. “As a free-to-play game, skins are the primary way that League pays its bills,” executive producer Paul ‘Pabro’ Bellezza continues.”
Van Roon notes that Hextech Chests were “additional rewards for time spent using something we knew many of you really cared about: skins. For a while, we think that worked well for both the players and the business side of League. Over time, though, free chests unintentionally became the primary way to unlock skins and an increasing number of players ended up with substantial skin collections for free. This meant that purchasing skins directly didn’t make sense anymore. That did lead to a great player experience, but it was not sustainable in League in the long term.”
“We didn’t want to go all the way back to the early days of League with no skins earned with play time at all,” Bellezza states, but notes that Hextech Chests and giving away free skins was leading to “meaningful diminishing returns.” “This is about ensuring the sustainable long-term health of League,” van Roon concludes.
Speaking of Masked Justice Senna, however, Riot has also been accused of decreasing the quality of in-game skins while keeping their price points the same as before. Players were quick to criticize the Masque of the Black Rose battle pass cosmetics – Vladimir in particular – noting that they were largely recolors versus new, unique cosmetics.
“We’ve heard a fair bit of feedback that those skins don’t feel like they’re good enough in various respects,” Bellezza states. “We agree with a lot of that feedback. We’re going to be looking to add more distinct visual effects, and more pronounced model changes.”
He also confirms that, while the initial plan was to align battle pass skins with the season’s overarching theme, the team is “planning to deviate” from that with some future passes “given the risk that we otherwise overdo the same sorts of visual appearances, and/or push champions into themes that don’t make sense.” Note that these new and improved skins won’t be available in Season 1 Act 2, and will arrive with Season 2.
Riot has also confirmed that, if you don’t own the champion you’ve unlocked a skin for, you’ll be gifted the character for free. As someone who blew all of her Blue Essence on the Emporium last time around (instant regrets), this is music to my ears, and it’ll also potentially help newer players add more champions to their collections, answering one of the many criticisms of Riot’s initial Blue Essence distribution.
Smaller changes include adjustments to some of the less-popular battle pass missions (specifically ones that required players to use purchased skins), and a rework to the Noxian Rift, which has been brightened up a little after players complained that it was too dark.
While I don’t mind the current iteration of the map, I remember Los Ratones coach and self-professed rat king Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont suggesting a toggle feature so that you can turn the map overlay off if you want to, which feels like the best of both worlds. Baby steps, though – I’m admittedly still quite excited over what the next Rift will be, and what it looks like. Note that these changes will release alongside Season 1 Act 2.
If you’re looking to dive back onto the Rift, check out our LoL tier list to ensure that you’re running the best champs for the job. Alternatively, we have a list of all the League of Legends skins that are currently on sale if you’re looking to pad out that cosmetic wardrobe.
You can also follow us on Google News for daily PC games news, reviews, and guides, or join our community Discord to stay in the know.
