League of Legends has been around for a long time. In fact, later this year we’ll be hitting the game’s 15th anniversary, which is sure to make a certain slice of the OG playerbase feel especially ancient. It should go without saying that the video game industry as a whole has shifted quite a bit in that time, with the wants and needs of players also having evolved.
As such, games that have been around the block a bit must adapt and shift in order to match these changing priorities. World of Warcraft has morphed considerably, as have pretty much all the long-lasting franchises still kicking, from Call of Duty to Pokemon. Riot Games’ approach to keeping things fresh? New game modes. While summoners rift remains the central pillar for its popular MOBA, the game has seen a growing number of side attractions implimented over the years, with recent times notably marked with a rotating arsenal of limited-time events to help mix things up.
With the announcement of Swarm, a new Vamprie Survivors-esque mode coming this summer as part of an Anima Squad skin line activation, I sat down and spoke with League of Legends game director Pu Liu about the importance of mixing things up, how the team decides which games become permanent and when, and how this affects the bread-and-butter League player content with the rift.
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