RELATED:Every Riot Games Title Coming to Xbox Game Pass, and Their Benefits
League of Legends Has Become a Sprawling Franchise
For much of its life,League of Legendsstood tall as Riot’s only product.LoLwas such an instant success that Riot hardly needed to develop other games, instead profiting off its efforts to polish the MOBA. In recent years, however,League of Legendshas flourished as an IP. Side games taking inspiration fromthe world of Runeterrainclude theDota Auto ChesscousinTeamfight Tactics,theLegends of Runeterradigital card game, and new singleplayer ventures such asRuined King: A League of Legends Story. This vast network of games, all of which branch into different genres, have helped invite non-LoLplayers into the game’s world and generally raisedLoL’s profile even higher than it already is.
Of course, spinoff games aren’t the only thing providing momentum toLeague of Legendsright now. The Netflix original showArcanecannot be discounted for its impact.Arcanewas one of 2021’s most acclaimed shows, earning high praise for setting a new standard for video game adaptations. The show, telling the origin stories of classic champions like Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn, has made its own strong case for giving Riot’s core game a try.A second season ofArcaneis in the works, and while it’ll reportedly take a long time to release, all eyes are on showrunner Fortiche Production regardless.
League of Legends Keeps Climbing
These various peripheralLeague of Legendsprojects make the game hard to ignore, but Riot would still be wise to offer some in-game reasons to tryLoLin order to win over anyone who’s on the fence. The Riot Games deal with Xbox Game Pass is exactly the kind of thing that it needs to do.League of Legends' champion rosteris vast, and collecting them all can take months of play for even the most diligent players, but with the help fo Xbox Game Pass, some new players will instantly be able to try out whatever champion speaks to them without needing to earn the character first.
Hopefully theLeague of LegendsGame Pass arrangement is a sign of things to come for the game. Now thatLoLis more famous and popular than ever, Riot Games is in a perfect position to start making the game more mechanically accessible and enticing as well. Whether it means puttingLoLdeals on other subscription services or offering independent bargains, the time is right for the game to grow. Regardless of if Riot starts working with other subscription services, though, this deal certainly seems to mean good things forLeague of Legends: Wild Rift.Maybe this version ofLoLwill make it onto the Xbox soon with the help of Riot and Microsoft’s new partnership.
