LoL devs pledge not to lean into ‘FOMO’ marketing after Black Alistar lessons

League of Legends developers Riot Games have outlined its stance on limited-time cosmetic items in the MOBA, believing such products—outside of rewards earned in Ranked—are “controversial” and don’t belong in the game.

The developer team went in-depth into League’s business model in a Dec. 11 blog post, addressing decisions made over the year related to how the game’s players spend their money and what sort of products Riot plans to offer going forward into 2024. One such point focused on Riot’s decision to avoid the fear of missing out; a feeling common in gaming today with time-gated rewards on offer to those who play during a specific period or season.

“We’ve been hesitant to embrace this motivation because League doesn’t have many commemorable moments aside from ranked seasons,” the team said on the matter, indicating that, while the Victorious Ranked skin range does fit this description, there are few ways for non-competitive players to show off how long they’ve been playing the title.

Calling it “veterancy,” the dev team points to the release of the Black Alistar skin with the game’s launch. The skin was only available to those who pre-ordered the collector’s edition of League way back in 2009 and is an example of “FoMO” they wish to avoid today. “If we could go back, we’d make it clearer Black Alistar was tied to the digital Collector’s Edition of League,” they said, adding because the skin wasn’t available today it made it all the more cooler to see it in-game. “Having Black Alistar means you were with us at the start of it all.”

Time-limited items are everywhere in gaming today, with devs and publishers alike pushing everything from downloadable content to microtransactions with a “buy now before it’s gone” angle. While the practice has become widely accepted for purely cosmetic items, it’s when such products begin to make a competitive impact, like we’ve seen in several MMORPGs or gacha titles over the years, where the lines become blurred.

Fortunately, we’re yet to see anything as drastic as this hit League, and it’s not looking like happening anytime soon—at least according to dev promises. That doesn’t mean the devs are ignoring “veterancy” and the prestige of showing off something earned for playing in the past, and are exploring options for 2024. “We don’t have any immediate updates to share on how we’re going to better serve this motivation, but it’s an area we’re looking into.”