Riot Games may have to push back release of new League of Legends champions

By Aaron Mamiit April 25, 2020

Riot Games’ developers are still working on new champions for League of Legends, though the release date of these characters may be delayed.

League of Legends executive producer Jessica “Safelocked” Nam discussed Riot Games’ plans for the rest of the year, including the state of the game, upcoming events, and new champions.

The Latest on League’s 2020 Plans | Riot Pls - League of Legends

Nam revealed that the promised rework for Volibear will launch next week. The rework follows that for Fiddlesticks, as these two champions were voted by players to receive a visual and gameplay update about a year ago.

After the release of the new Volibear, Nam said that Riot Games will focus on the development of new champions for the remainder of the year, which include the “whimsical new jungler” and a “masked melee carry who refuses to die” that were teased in January. The dates of their arrival to League of Legends, however, are still undetermined.

“Avoiding health risks is a top priority, and we don’t want to endanger the safety of folks like VO actors and external QA partners across the world,” Nam said, resulting in new production constraints. She raised the possibility that the releases of the new champions may be “more condensed than usual,” but Riot Games still plans to add them to the game within the year.

Not much information is known about the two upcoming champions mentioned by Nam. The last dedicated jungler added to League of Legends was Kayn in 2017, so a new champion in the role will be a welcome addition. Meanwhile, there are rumors that melee carry will be General Marcus De Couteau, the father of Katarina, according to Dot Esports.

League of Legends players give back

While Riot Games is hard at work in updates for League of Legends, its players recently raised $6 million for the developer’s Social Impact Fund through its Dawnbringer Karma fundraiser.

The money was raised by players purchasing the limited edition skin for Karma, along with other cosmetic items like chromas and emotes. For the first time, players were given the opportunity to vote on which nonprofit organizations would benefit from the amassed funds.

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