Riot unveiled upcoming League of Legends champ Gwen today, a doll-turned-person that’s “tailor-made for top lane.” But with the AP fighter becoming the sixth human-like addition in a row, some fans want to see a variety in thematics.
Lead champion producer Ryan “Reav3” Mireles discussed champion types today, commenting on a Reddit post that Riot is “shifting to do less straight humans” for 2022. This will give way to more humanoid champs (Renekton, Aatrox, Lillia) and creatures (Yuumi).
“We are defining it now as Human, Humanoid, and Creature, and going to be more deliberate to make sure we are making champs in all 3, though we will still likely be doing mainly Human/Humanoid Champions with creatures thrown in,” Reav3 said.
Reav3 added that creatures tend to have lower play rates than their human and humanoid counterparts. While devs will still create creature champions, they’ll “generally make less” due to the smaller audience.
Out of the last 10 released League champs, Lillia appears to be the only clear humanoid with a perfect melding of both human and creature features. The rest includes champs like Viego, Samira, and Seraphine, designs that are more human than not. The last creature to be added to the Rift was seemingly Yuumi in May 2019.
Since champion timelines are so long, fans won’t see this shift until next year. But Reav3 says he’s working on a champion roadmap that should release “sometime after Gwen goes live.”
Make sure to follow us on YouTube for more esports news and analysis.
