VALORANT meets League of Legends in the tac shooter’s latest skin bundle.
Riot’s premium content art lead Sean Marino and senior producer Preeti Khanolkar discussed the upcoming Ruination skins in an interview with RyanCentral from VALORANT YouTube channel HITSCAN.
Over a year in the making, the “collaboration” includes skins for the Phantom, Guardian, Spectre, Ghost, and melee.
“This [bundle] isn’t for League of Legends players—this is for VALORANT players,” Khanolkar said. “If you’re a player that likes League of Legends, it has a little bit of extra meaning, a little bit of Easter eggs, and stuff like that.”
The bundle, which takes inspiration from the Ruination—a magical catastrophe surrounding League’s Ruined King—has a similar look and feel to champions like Thresh and Viego.
The base variant of the bundle is teal-colored with shadowy, spectral animations. It’s dark and gritty-looking, but it also comes in several different colors, including purple, orange, and a lighter, friendlier green.
When VALORANT launched in 2020, Riot steered away from League, choosing to keep the games separate. After some time passed, though, the devs thought it was appropriate to connect the two worlds in some shape or form.
The devs didn’t want to “come out of the gates” with VALORANT and release a League bundle, according to Marino. They were “very deliberate” to avoid crossovers, apart from small details like the “Tahm Kench bench” on Ascent and the Scuttle crab on Split.
“When were approached by the League team about this [skin bundle] last year, it was because of what they’re doing with the Ruination event in League of Legends,” Marino said. “There’s all of this story that they’re unfolding within the canon of League. It’s all actually happening. And so they wanted us to be a part of that but also just all [Riot’s] games to come together and celebrate a big event and moment that’s happening.”
The bundle, which also features a gun buddy, player card, and Viego-inspired Blade of the Ruined King melee, will likely debut in VALORANT’s shop in the next couple of days. The full list of details, including the price, have yet to be revealed.
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Published: Jul 7, 2021 07:58 am