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Which League of Legends skins are currently on sale in the store? LoL is a free-to-play game in the truest sense - you can enjoy everything the MOBA offers for absolutely nothing. Now if you were to ask a seasoned League player if that were true, they’d probably have to stifle a few tears as they check how much their bank account has suffered buying skins since they started battling on the Rift.
Riot rotates a series of skins in the store, with the savviest of us holding out until the cosmetic they want ends up in the discount section store or even the League of Legends Mythic shop. The shiny new cosmetics are only available briefly, so act fast if you want to snag the new hotness. Here is every League of Legends skin on sale right now if you want to know what’s in the store without booting up the client.
Somehow, a combination of League of Legends and Vampire Survivors has produced something strangely relaxing. The infamously intense MOBA is getting a new mode this summer - just temporarily, at least for now - called Swarm, taking characters from League and design elements of the recently formed "bullet heaven" wave survival genre. But the big twist is that for all the on-screen carnage - and there is a lot of on-screen carnage - the result is something strangely chilled out.
Like all things League of Legends these days, Swarm has been fleshed out with reams of worldbuilding backstory. The mode is set within the alternate universe world of Anima Squad - for those understandably not in the know, Riot Games themes its many of its paid-for character skins in League of Legends around alternate realities or short fictional stories, like the cyberpunk-themed PROJEKT skin line, or the K/DA skins that tied champions to Riot's virtual pop group of the same name.
The vibe with Anima Squad is a kind of peppy, futuristic anime-sci-fi, where a group of heroes - with animal-enhanced abilities - defend the remnants of earth from an alien invasion. For the new mode, Riot has built out that universe further, with a range of enemy types introduced from the invading Primordians - purple, shark-like grunts and their bosses of various sizes, who believe themselves to be the "white blood cells" wiping out the virus of humanity - and the mode's various maps set in different parts of a post-apocalyptic Runeterra.
I admit it, when I turned up at Riot's LA HQ to learn about its League of Legends summer event, I was fully resigned to having the snot kicked out of me. My MOBA experience consists of a couple hours spent in an apartment where two Russian lads were getting incredibly heated about something happening in Dota 2, and that's about it. My task, as I saw it, was to Forrest Gump my way through proceedings before reporting back to one of PCG's actual MOBA-knowers.
So imagine my all-body bafflement when Riot unveiled Swarm | Operation: Anima Squad, the ungainly name for the "brand new PvE game mode" that makes up LoL's 2024 summer event, and I was pretty dang good at it. Not because I'm some kind of MOBA idiot savant, mind you, but because the entire thing is basically Vampire Survivors. Four-player, LoL-themed Vampire Survivors, sure, but Vampire Survivors nonetheless. I don't know what "jungling" is, but an auto-shooter? I know that very well indeed.
It works pretty much how you'd expect. Party up with up to three friends, choose from a roster of heroes—including the newly introduced Aurora the Witch—and get let loose into one of a series of maps. It's not really LoL—for the first time, you're controlling your movement with (imagine it) WASD—but it's not not LoL either. Your characters still have a range of abilities you'll recognise from your average MOBA match, it's just that their basic attacks will now fire automatically, though some more powerful stuff still wants you to trigger it with a button-tap.
That arsenal can be expanded, much like in the games that inspired this new mode, as you level up. Collecting enough XP orbs will push you higher and higher up the tree, letting you choose from one of three abilities/upgrades every time. My recommendation? Go for the giant hammer. It has a long cooldown, but it also annihilates the heck out of bosses.
In a bit of a divergence from Vampire Survivors (or at least from Vampire Survivors as I last played it), Anima Squad's levels are littered with challenges and missions for you and your team to complete. Wipe out this enemy in X amount of time, deal with this miniboss, that kind of thing. It's a neat way to mix things up although, frankly, I and my three companions struggled enough to keep ourselves alive in the game even without the added difficulty. You can also unlock permanent upgrades using gold you unlock in the mode and, yes, there's an Event Pass filled with cosmetics and gewgaws.
Riot wasn't willing to commit to keeping the mode in perpetuity when I asked about it during the event, but I'd be surprised if it didn't stick around in some form if it proves a hit with fans. For my money, it's the first time I've ever been drawn to play LoL at all, and felt like a good way to dip my toe into the vast ocean of the game's roster and abilities as someone who's very scared he'd just make his teammates angry in standard play. I suspect that might be just what Riot's going for, what with its current playerbase growing older and older.
© Riot
Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week we play probably the closest thing we're ever likely to get to Bloodborne on PC; we jump back in time in a retro-inspired RPG; and we enjoy the easy delights of this year's Clash Mini.
What have you been playing?
If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.
Back in 2020, fresh out of high school and feeling unstoppable, Charles Maddock and a few friends “decided to code a game about Fish Wizards.” The result was Fishards, Magicka-inspired PVP arena action that has you out-squirt, out-splash, and out-spellcast your mates. It’s a charmer, but after two years of dev, release saw it suffer the same sad fate as many multiplayer-only indies. People would play for half hour, says Maddock, then refund the game because they couldn’t find others to play with.
Renowned League of Legends esports player Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok is the inaugural inductee to Riot's new Hall of Legends, its very own bespoke hall of fame. To commemorate the occasion, Riot is releasing limited-time League of Legends cosmetic bundles featuring new "Legend" skins for Ahri—the most expensive of which will cost you a whopping 59,260 RP. In other words, Faker has the unique title of being the first player Riot's honored with a skin that can cost damn near $500 USD. Congratulations!
League players, unsurprisingly, aren't thrilled. At time of writing, more than half of the threads on the front page of the League of Legends subreddit are filled with players venting their frustrations over the latest in what feels like the constant inflation of cosmetic costs. For comparison, Ultimate skins—some of League's flashiest cosmetics—typically cost 3250 RP, or around $30 USD. Meanwhile, even the cheapest version of the new Ahri Faker skin bundles costs 5430 RP, somewhere around $50 USD. Of course, the bundles have other cosmetic nuggets like taunts, icons, and emotes. Whether that justifies the price is left as an exercise for the reader.
With the Hall of Legends event cosmetics, described on the Hall of Legends page as "some of our most generous bundles to date," Riot seems to be dabbling in psychological tactics aimed at making the bundles more enticing. If you buy the cheaper skin bundle, the upgraded version sold right next to it might leave you feeling like you've been left with a lesser or compromised product—and you've only got so long to make the decision before the event expires. And if you're only buying the event's 1950 RP battle pass, any remaining cosmetic unlocks as the event clock ticks down might make the 100 pass levels in the $500 bundle harder to ignore. These aren't new strategies, but the potential cost involved leaves me with a distinctly sickly feeling.
Often called the Michael Jordan of esports, Faker has a slate of achievements that keeps me from wanting to think too long about how much I've accomplished with my couple of additional years on the Earth. Among other accolades, Faker holds four World Championship titles, multiple League of Legends Champions Korea MVP awards, and LCK records for kills, assists, games played, and games won. And as an inductee into the ESL Esports Hall of Fame in 2019, this isn't even his first time getting the Hall of Famer treatment.
Unsurprisingly, people like the guy—which adds an extra sting to the already-absurd $500 pricetag. As Reddit user SwiftRespite writes, "Almost every League player loves Faker," but Riot "chose to exploit our love for Faker for their own gain." It's worth noting that, as mentioned by users in the Reddit threads linked above, Faker has rarely used skins himself, typically sticking to default champion appearances throughout his professional career. As redditor Arcuran puts it, "I already have Faker's Ahri skin. It's called the base skin."
© Riot
League of Legends is constantly and routinely updated, with significant balance changes hitting live servers roughly every two weeks. On top of the regular schedule of updates came the end of the first split of the season and the launch of the second split, which brought more changes than ever before, including new and altered existing items, champion updates, and changes to the game's bounty system. Riot Games has released a follow-up micro patch for 14.10, which snuck in a significant change to a beloved champion nobody saw coming.
League of Legends developer Riot Games has dropped some absolutely massive changes to the famed MOBA over the last few weeks. The mid-season patch 14.10 update introduced a boatload of gameplay changes, including summoner spell alterations, new items, changed existing items, and so much more. While some champions were given a fresh feel with this update, others, like OG top-laner Singed, have been wholly nerfed into the ground, and mains of the Mad Scientist are demanding action from LoL's gameplay developers.
MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends patch 14.10, League of Legends tier list
Recently, because I hate myself, I was browsing Twitter (I’m not calling it X) and I stumbled across an incredible conceptual video from an artist named DEVINK that shows what they imagine a potential Fortnite X Fallout crossover could look like.
This crossover seems like a bit of a no-brainer to me and I wouldn't be surprised if something like this happened in the future, but what about Fallout crossovers from the past? Well that's what I'm exploring in today's video (above) so please do give it a click and see if you remember any of the seven forgotten Fallout crossovers that feature within.
These crossovers range from an excellent and highly detailed Minecraft mash-up and some fairly fancy, but almost definitely forgotten cosmetics for Brink, through to what can only be described as one of the most haunting pieces of headwear for the Xbox 360 Avatars that I ever did see.
Recently, because I hate myself, I was browsing Twitter (I’m not calling it X) and I stumbled across an incredible conceptual video from an artist named DEVINK that shows what they imagine a potential Fortnite X Fallout crossover could look like.
This crossover seems like a bit of a no-brainer to me and I wouldn't be surprised if something like this happened in the future, but what about Fallout crossovers from the past? Well that's what I'm exploring in today's video (above) so please do give it a click and see if you remember any of the seven forgotten Fallout crossovers that feature within.
These crossovers range from an excellent and highly detailed Minecraft mash-up and some fairly fancy, but almost definitely forgotten cosmetics for Brink, through to what can only be described as one of the most haunting pieces of headwear for the Xbox 360 Avatars that I ever did see.
Recently, because I hate myself, I was browsing Twitter (I’m not calling it X) and I stumbled across an incredible conceptual video from an artist named DEVINK that shows what they imagine a potential Fortnite X Fallout crossover could look like.
This crossover seems like a bit of a no-brainer to me and I wouldn't be surprised if something like this happened in the future, but what about Fallout crossovers from the past? Well that's what I'm exploring in today's video (above) so please do give it a click and see if you remember any of the seven forgotten Fallout crossovers that feature within.
These crossovers range from an excellent and highly detailed Minecraft mash-up and some fairly fancy, but almost definitely forgotten cosmetics for Brink, through to what can only be described as one of the most haunting pieces of headwear for the Xbox 360 Avatars that I ever did see.
The already controversial decision to add the anti-cheat tool used in shooter Valorant to League of Legends has seemingly caused developers Riot Games even more of a headache. The studio have issued a lengthy assurance that - at least as far as they know - the new anti-cheat software isn’t causing players’ hardware to end up bricked, despite various reports of major issues after its introduction.
Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week we've gone with a bit of a theme: matchmaking. We've pulled on some of our most memorable matchmaking experiences from games we loved. Can you remember any of yours?
If you fancy catching up on some of the older editions of What We've Been Playing, here's our archive.
RuneScape is a game with a lot of grinding and, in many cases, this means a lot of standing around. Be it Woodcutting or Fishing, you'll find yourself fixed to one location where the only movement is between skill-spots or when it's time for a bank run to deposit your goods. (Unless you're a litterbug who just dumps everything on the ground.) Due to this I, and many other RuneScape players, have partaken in the long standing tradition of chatting away as your XP slowly climbs to the next level.
Zynga's free-to-play 4v4 arena shooter Star Wars: Hunters finally has a release date after years of delays, with the game now set to arrive for Switch, iOS, and Android on 4th June.
Star Wars: Hunters was originally announced all the way back in March 2021, when it was planned to launch later that year. 2021 turned to 2022, however, which turned to 2023 after Zynga announced another delay to ensure the game met "the high expectations we are setting". And then, whoops, it slipped yet again into 2024.
But now, a little over three years since it was formally unveiled, Star Wars: Hunters finally has its first proper, actual release date - alongside details of what it'll include come launch day.
It's no secret that the League of Legends Vanguard hasn't exactly gone as planned. With players claiming it's bricking PCs, asking you to delete core Windows systems, and locking HDMI drivers, things keep going from bad to worse. Following a series of claims that the new anti-cheat isn't causing these issues, Riot has doubled down, stating that it has "not confirmed any instances of Vanguard bricking anyone’s hardware."
What are the best League of Legends champions right now? Metas change, the LoL tier list will fluctuate, and it could be that your favorite champion might not be in a great place right now. While you can win games and climb the ranked ladder with nearly anyone in the lower ranks, the changes that come via champion and item balancing can tip the scales enough that some picks are almost mandatory, regardless of which rank you play in.
We’ve studied the latest LoL patch notes and found the strongest champions in League of Legends right now. Whether it’s due to a buff, kit change, or item change, these picks will give you the best chance to climb the solo queue ranks in the free PC game. If you do want to play something other than what's on this list, keep these champions in mind for your ban, as they all have the potential to go on and dominate Summoner’s Rift.
MORE FROM PCGAMESN: League of Legends ranks explained, League of Legends patch 14.2, League of Legends tier list
Over half a decade later from when the servers shut down, moba-hybrid Gigantic is returning to PC and consoles and players couldn’t be more excited. So, here’s what’s changing with Gigantic.
When you look at Gigantic, it’s rather quite unique in its visuals and design. Even as an Unreal Engine 3 game, it still holds up in certain areas today. Unfortunately, its crossplay was segmented, the original developers ran out of funding after a timely delay of the game’s launch, and they had issues monetizing the game properly. By the end, Motiga, the developers at the time, couldn’t keep the lights on as they bounced from publisher to publisher.
Smite 2 was revealed as a standalone sequel to the third-person god-battling MOBA last month, using Unreal Engine 5 for a visual overhaul on the front end while making a number of significant gameplay and balance changes behind the scenes. Ahead of its planned alpha test this spring, developers Titan Forge have now shown off how the game’s Conquest mode will be evolving.
Gigantic, the free-to-play team brawler from a former StarCraft and Guild Wars designer, which launched (fully) in 2017 and closed the following year, is returning as Gigantic: Rampage Edition. It's no longer free-to-play, but a "premium and definitive release" of the original, and it's due on April 9th.
League of Legends is an ever-evolving game, as developer Riot Games is constantly pushing out new balance patches that rejigger the balancing on a nearly bi-weekly basis. With patch 14.4 on the horizon, dedicated League players were hoping Twisted Fate would be getting toned down a bit. However, while one League community member spotted that the most dominant champion in the game is finally getting nerfed, it isn't exactly the type of nerfs players were hoping to see for the card-flinging damage dealer.
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