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Riot Games has today released a new Dev Update video announcing that Hextech Chests are returning to League of Legends (LoL) following player backlash.
Andrei ‘Meddler’ van Roon and Paul ‘Pabro’ Bellezza from the League team have announced several changes based on recent player feedback.
The news comes a few weeks after free Hextech Chests were removed from League of Legends.
Now, starting in act two (in the patch next week, March 5th 2025), players will be able to earn up to ten chests and keys per act.
Eight will be spread throughout the free Pass instead of the Seasonal skin and the 1,350 or Lower Skin, while the other two will be earnable through the Honor system.
Riot later said that Hextech Chest content drop rates ‘will be the same as they were last year and you shouldn’t see or expect any changes on that front’.
In addition, the Blue Essence cost for all champions will be reduced by 50% as of the next patch.
“This change should especially help newer players build out their champion roster, making the game more accessible and, in turn, helping League continue to thrive long-term,” according to a press update.
Your Shop will return in Patch 25.6 and the Blue Essence Emporium will return in Patch 25.7.
“Recently, we’ve made a number of changes that didn’t hit the mark for everyone. We’ve been listening to your feedback, and it’s clear that there are areas where we need to adjust. We know getting League to the right place isn’t about just one set of changes. It’s about continually refining and improving the game in ways that make it better.”
Riot Games
Elsewhere, Clash will return to a monthly schedule, with ARURF as March’s Clash event and the regular Summoner’s Rift as April’s. This comes after Riot previously announced LoL casual tournament mode Clash would run less frequently.
Looking at skins changes, and the Sahn Uzal Mordekaiser skin is being delayedfor improvements, while Riot is also taking more time to improve future Exalted skins, ‘so it’s likely that players won’t see one in every act this year as originally planned’.
One of the the non-Prestige skins on the paid Seasonal Pass will be replaced with 25 Mythic Essence. And in act two, the skins slated to be on the paid pass will be Darius, Sion and Talon.
Riot said: “We know that some of you are frustrated—even questioning if Riot is still the company you’ve always known. We aspire to put players first, and when our decisions don’t land the way we intended, it can damage your trust.
“Recently, we’ve made a number of changes that didn’t hit the mark for everyone. We’ve been listening to your feedback, and it’s clear that there are areas where we need to adjust. We know getting League to the right place isn’t about just one set of changes. It’s about continually refining and improving the game in ways that make it better.
“We think today’s updates are an important step, and we’ll keep tracking how these changes feel, talking with all of you about how things are landing, and making adjustments.”
There’s more in the video below and the Hextech Chests dev blog on the League of Legends website.
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.
