Riot Games is giving LEC esports organisations a cut of League of Legends skin sales, as part of its new Star Guardian event.
The revenue share experiment will see teams receive between 5% and 10% of the revenue from a skin sale, depending on which Star Guardian skin is purchased from their unique link.
Fans can access the following individual team store web collection pages to support their favourite team when purchasing a skin:
Riot says this month-long test will include ‘select content creators and esports organisations’ in North America, Brazil, Italy, and Germany, and that it plans to find more opportunities to allow partners to participate from other regions in the future. The test will run from July 14th to August 9th 2022.
Could we get a similar revenue share test for European Regional League esports organisations in the future?
There’s more info on Riot’s test affiliate scheme on its website, including stream embeds and eligibility info, and the possibility of other partners coming on board.
LEC org G2 Esports were quick to get out of the blocks with this initiative, with G2 founder and CEO Carlos ‘Ocelote’ Rodriguez announcing G2’s involvement by cosplaying as Star Guardian Soraka in a video typical of G2’s style and humour:
Esports News UK reached out to management at UK-based esports organisation Excel to ask if we will see them getting up to any cosplay shenanigans as well, and we’ll update this article with anything they get up to.
The news comes after G2 released a metal music track and its own record label, reminiscent of League of Legends’ virtual rock group Pentakill.
Riot has previously announced revenue-share initiatives for League of Legends esports teams, including fan passes, team passes, and other in-game paid-for items like icons featuring esports organisation logos.
World Championship winning organisations also get a cut of sales from their Worlds-themed champion skins.
Riot also published the below Star Guardian animation to hype up the upcoming match on Saturday July 16th between G2 and Misfits:
The current initiative is part of League of Legends’ wider Star Guardian event that is going on right now, featuring new in-game skins, music and other activities. More on that below.
Riot kicks off 2022 Star Guardian event with cross-game League of Legends content, music, merch and more
Riot Games’ anime-inspired alternate universe thematic returns this summer with content across League of Legends, mobile game Wild Rift and card game Legends of Runeterra.
It’s targeting global players and anime fans alike with in-game content and out-of-game events.
Star Guardian is Riot Games’ tribute to the magical girl (mahō shōjo), an anime genre that ’empowers young women, shows the importance of good friends, and celebrates authentic representations of one’s self’.
The Star Guardian event began globally on Thursday July 14th 2022, with the song and music video release of the event anthem ‘Everything Goes On’ by Porter Robinson.
There’s also been the launch of stream copyright friendly music playlist ‘Sessions: Star Guardian Taliyah’ and the Star Guardian merch line, which includes figures, bracelets, pillows and other accessories.
This fourth iteration of the Star Guardian series will see fresh faces join popular favourites across three Riot titles:
League of Legends Star Guardian event
- 12 new Star Guardian skins: Star Guardian Akali (Legendary), Kai’Sa (Legendary), Ekko, Sona, Taliyah, Quinn, Nilah, and Rell; Star Nemesis Morgana and Fiddlesticks; Prestige Star Guardian Ekko and Syndra
- In-client narrative experience titled Star Guardian: Another Sky,
- New LoL champion Nilah
- A LoL and TFT event pass to unlock more exclusive content
- Ultimate Spellbook game mode returns
- New Emotes, Chromas and Wards
Wild Rift Star Guardian event
- Star Guardian skins: Star Guardian Orianna, Seraphine, Ahri, Senna, Xayah, Rakan, and Miss Fortune; Redeemed Star Guardian Rakan and Xayah
- Event pass
- In-client narrative experience exclusive to Wild Rift
Legends of Runeterra Star Guardian event
- Star Guardian-themed card skins, Guardians, and boards
- Skins: Star Guardian Gwen, Kai’Sa, Jinx, Senna, Quinn, Taliyah, Lulu, Soraka, with Star Guardian Kai’Sa debuting as LoR’s first Legendary skin, complete with exclusive card art, new voice lines, and a unique level-up animation
- Guardians: Star Guardian Drake and Gwen Doll
- Board: Starlight Stage Legendary Board
- New Emotes & Cardbacks
The Riot Games Social Impact Fund, Riot’s non-profit engine, will also activate during Star Guardian to support non-profits around the world by giving players multiple ways to give back throughout the event.
In League of Legends, from July 14th to August 15th, Riot will contribute 20% of proceeds from the Star Guardian Event Pass to the Riot Games Social Impact Fund in partnership with ImpactAssets. From July 28th to August 29th, Riot will contribute 100% of proceeds from Star Guardian Taliyah and all related bundle sales to the Riot Games Social Impact Fund. Qualifying in-game items are below:
- Star Guardian Taliyah (skin only)
- Star Guardian Taliyah Border Set
- Star Guardian Taliyah Chroma Bundle
- Star Guardian Taliyah All-Star Bundle
In Wild Rift, for every 10 chaos monsters defeated by players between July 14th and August 11th in the in-client narrative experience, Riot Games will contribute $1 to the Riot Games Social Impact Fund, up to $2m.
Related article: Evelynn buffs, Corki nerfs and Divine Sunderer changes announced in LoL patch 12.13
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
