When Riot Games introduced Double Up as a fun way to play Teamfight Tactics with a buddy, the developers thought they’d eventually remove it from the live servers for improvements around League of Legends Patch 12.2. They didn’t expect the beta to pop off with the player base, and as a result, they’ll be keeping the mode around for the foreseeable future.
“Double Up has exceeded all of our expectations,” Riot’s TFT communications lead Rodger Caudill said. “We’re gobsmacked by its success, and now we’re in a world where taking Double Up off of live servers would be a disservice to all of you who not only play lots of Double Up, but also those who play Double Up as their primary game mode.”
Now that Riot has decided to keep Double Up on the live servers, however, this means that changes to the game mode will take a bit more time to execute. There are multiple updates that the devs have in the works, including a unique ranked system for the mode, enhanced clarity for specific Double Up elements, and building healthy composition metas.
Riot specifically wants to balance out Rune of Allegiance’s impact on Double Up since it “adds a lot of reliability and consistency to the game.” But the devs want more variance in player builds within the meta so that they aren’t completely reliant on trading champions to guarantee high placements and wins.
Riot is also checking out the possibility of lobbies with more than two players. The complications set in once matchmaking and LP gains are considered, and because of this, the team is experimenting on a system that shuts off LP gain if there are more than two players in a given group.
Once Double Up is finally out of its beta phase, Riot is looking to add new elements that are exclusive to the game mode. One idea that the devs have been floating around is the introduction of new augments that are only available in the game mode. One augment idea, for example, was that a teammate could leave a random unit on your board after joining your army in a battle.
The future is bright for Double Up, so find your partner and get ready to climb up the ladder to victory.
