At the Bethesda Xbox Showcase, all of Riot's games were announced to be included in the Xbox Games Pass subscription service. This means that Riot will have a multi-platform approach with Wild Rift, their mobile game also being brought onto the pass.
Riot fans are especially excited about the rewards that come from linking a Riot and Xbox games pass account with League of Legends. Due to the immense popularity that League of Legends has racked up over the years, the freebies are looking to be better than any other game.
So what can we expect to see come from this collab?
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Free access to all champions
The announcement stated that access to all 160 champions will be free when playing League of Legends through the Games Pass. Not only will the already released champions be free, but any new champions coming out will be free to play from the release date.
For newbies on the rift, this will provide a brilliant way to figure out what champions they enjoy and test themselves to try every champion in-game. As many Xbox games pass users try out LoL for the first time, this will provide them with a variety of champions to pick from.
Any skins?
So far, there have not been any announcements of free or new skins to Runeterra. However, Xbox announced that updates will be coming in the next few months for the release in Winter 2022.
Perhaps free skins will be given to Xbox games pass subscribers, or maybe a price percentage reduction. This is all just speculation until we hear from the big guys ourselves.
Does this affect Riot's anti-pay-to-win ideal?
Riot has always prided itself on its games being free-to-play and that still continues with the Xbox games pass release. Although the subscription is a paid service, having the link to a Riot account does not mean you're stronger in-game.
The rewards from linking the two accounts are purely cosmetic, with a slight increase in XP also added. Although this does not affect the gameplay, only the rewards received after playing the games.
As fans get ready for the release later on in the year, Xbox has promised to keep us updated with news about the collaboration, so stay tuned for future updates in this article.