Summary
Riot Gamesrecently announced a regional price adjustment for all its games, includingLeague of Legends,Valorant, andLegends of Runeterra. The change will only increase for some players and lower for others depending on their region, meaning in-game purchases ofValorantPoints and Riot Points fromRiot Games’ premium titles will be affected.
ValorantandLeague of Legendsrecently received updates to address ongoing issues reported from both player bases.Valorant’s Patch 9.03 brought several improvementsand refinements to gameplay, in addition to introducing the new Pearl map to console players.League of Legends’ 14.15 update improved abilities, eradicated several bugs, and made significant changes to melee assassins Yasuo, Irelia, and Zed.
In apost on Riot Games’ website, the developer announced prices for virtual currency would be adjusted on September 18. The cost ofValorantPoints and Riot Points inLeague of Legendswill increase, decrease, or stay the same depending on which region players are in. Luckily, players whose region will see an increase in cost will be offered bonus currency on in-client purchases before the adjustment comes into effect. Gamers don’t respond lightly to cost increases, as Microsoft found out in July after therise of Xbox Game Pass' price, but Riot assured players this adjustment was necessary to reflect the changing global economy, saying, “We sometimes need to adjust our pricing to account for shifts in exchange rates and local economies.”
Riot Games to Adjust Virtual Currency Prices in September
Countries that will see no change in prices include Canada and the USA, with Turkey and Ukraine seeing significant increases, while the United Kingdom sees a 9% decrease. One user commented on Riot’s Twitter post highlighting the 66% increase for Ukranian players, noting the country’s ongoing invasion. TheSTALKER 2: Heart of Chornobylteam recently addressed the unprecedented eventto acknowledge its impact on the game’s lengthy development, so it’s understandable why the user wanted to flag Riot’s steep increase for Ukraine under the circumstances. Additionally, the Riot community struggled to understand why a price increase was needed at all, considering the developer is a lucrative company, as several Twitter users hurled “greedy” and more expletive comments at the developer.
It’s no secret that Riot’s live-service games harbor toxic communities, which is whyLeague of Legendsis reintroducing the ability to honor playersto combat the negativity. Therefore, it comes as no surprise to see players from across the developer’s games catalog respond aggressively to price hikes. In protest, some Twitter users suggested a boycott on buying in-game skins and uninstalling Riot’s games entirely.
