League of Legends have captivated thousands of players for years by glimmering chests. Hextech Chests, those pockets full of hope for free skins and rich rewards, are nevertheless at the heart of the game. But now, things have changed in the blink of an eye. The Season 15 revolution changed something strange and unheard of. Free-earned League of Legends Hextech Chest were faced with disappearance from the game, making the players wonder if they would ever come back.
History of Hextech Chests
Hextech Chests have become one of the greatest things ever since it started back in 2016 in the crafting system. Players can also earn these by showing grades on champions by encouraging players to play differently and master something new. Contents include skins and shards, emotes, and everything in between without forgetting that good time in the game.
That would be the catch, play the game and get free skins and such valuable stuff around it. In fact, this has massively increased engagement among players: there is a chest after every game. It gives that happy feeling every time, with players wondering “What will I get inside?”
Removal of Free Hextech Chests
The major turning point was the removal of free Hextech Chests in Season 15. Riot Games announced that this system would be scrapped instead in favor of a new Battle Pass scheme. This meant that players couldn’t earn chests for free just by simply playing well. Players now purchase chests with RP, which is Riot’s in-game currency purchasable using real-world money.
Previously, players could collect chests along the way. Now, it has turned from an earning mechanism to a clear purchase of Battle Passes or skins and items directly. The change could alter a player’s behavior, some may become less tempted to play certain champions for the chests. Meanwhile, others may try different ways of getting their skins.
Riot’s Justification for the Change
Riot Games has put forward the decision as the reason being the previous model’s failure towards sustainability. Much free reward is alleged to hurt revenues by creating a culture of dependency on free skins. This change thus proves another effort towards a balance between free-to-play, but financially real-world maintenance and production. So getting free Hextech Chests would simply be at odds with Riot’s current economic model and hence highly unlikely.
Community Reactions and Future Implications
The removal of free Hextech Chests has caused a storm of protests among the League of Legends community. It prompted many of its players to express their discontent as well as call for boycotting.
Some players pointed out that Riot is following in the footsteps of other companies, adding that this change could end up killing the game. Comments like “League is dead/will die” have gained ground. That removal of the Hextech Chests seems to be a possible catalyst for losing active players of the game.
Conclusion
At its core, the future of League of Legends would be different without the promising introduction of free Hextech Chest. The point in time where the game and its community changes indelibly lies in the future. The charm with which a player buried himself in the arbitrary spin of the wheel for Hextech Chests reward would be lost. But now, players put in effort to gain access to an entirely new variety of cosmetics. Losing that much is hardly compensatory. But that loss, now, comes together with the hope that Riot is more than capable of producing something unprecedented in rewarding players.
