League of Legends has undergone a ton of changes in the past year. The primary point of contention between Riot and its players have been Hextech Chests, which are now officially coming back as of the next patch.
The League community has been up in arms ever since season 15 started and the entire economic landscape of the game was revamped. Hextech chests were removed, battle passes were made worse and less rewarding, and the numerous freebies the game previously gave players for leveling up, playing well in a match, or completing missions were nowhere to be seen. Instead, gacha pull systems where $250 skins are sold were plastered across the client, the skins themselves sometimes just chromas of existing cosmetics. We’ve come full circle, however, as Riot officially announced on Feb. 26 that it would bring back Hextech Chests, giving players 10 chests and keys per Act as part of each Act’s battle pass, which amounts to 60 chests and keys per year.
This comes after players continuously pressured Riot Games since the season started. Posts overwhelmed the game’s subreddit and social media accounts, all begging the company to revert season 15’s changes and bring back free cosmetics. On Feb. 26, the community even started spreading the word for a boycott, believing that making a significant dent in Riot’s player counts and revenue would cause the company to buckle and backtrack. It seems the boycott no longer has to go through, though some have been boycotting the game for a while, claiming in one Feb. 28 Reddit thread that the “number of solo queue [matches] dropped 21 percent from 2024 to 2025.”
“And they say boycotting doesn’t work,” said one player. “Holy shit we did it,” said another, with hundreds celebrating their achievement of making Riot at least partially revert their aggressive monetization tactic.
Many have been celebrating the return of the sorely-missed Hextech chests and keys, and Riot even says you’ll be able to earn more of them annually than you could pre-2025. With two battle passes, three Acts and extra keys and Chests earned from Honor, one could potentially rack up 60 keys and Chests in a single year, as opposed to a maximum of 52 previously.
These Hextech chest changes, alongside huge Blue Essence discounts for numerous champions, are set to come to League as of Patch 25.1.5, alongside numerous other additions such as the new iteration of the Arena game mode.
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Published: Feb 26, 2025 12:06 pm