This week has been pretty quiet on the Runeterra front, but we've still got a few items to highlight. If you haven't been accepted into the closed beta be sure and visit the official website to register for your chance to get in. Legends of Runeterra will return early in Q1.


See your friends over there? Even they know not to mess with me!

Andrew Yip, Design Director for LoR, explains why there is no graveyard in the game. (source)

Quote From Andrew Yip

I really enjoy graveyard mechanics in other games, but I'm not ready to commit to one for LoR. I think GY mechanics are great in games like MTG from a couple of dimensions: theme, and function. Thematically, raising things from the dead is super resonant (with more sinister flavors, or more angelic ones) and pairs really well with Black/White/Green their color pie.

Functionally, it's super fun to get extra value from your stuff - using your graveyard as a resource to pay novel costs, or often a second hand that gives dat value.

The reasons I'm not advocating for it in LoR are:

1) I think we can hit these resonant fantasies without a GY exactly, and I think we can hit value cards that are satisfying too (though maybe in separate ways). In many ways Twin and Echo in HS hit this, as do cards that create a card in either games.

2) Unlike paper games, we have limited visual real estate, and something like Graveyard is evergreen; once it's in the game, we're really unlikely to take it out. This means we have to really love the mechanic and think we'll love it forever, and potentially more than other mechanics that could use that same real estate.

Hopefully players agree the ways we've chose to use the visual real estate in Set 1 and future sets are exciting and fun themselves, I can't wait to see!

Check out Swagbastian's YouTube guide to spells in LoR.

The Verge reports about Riot's new publishing label, Riot Forge, for partnering with smaller studios to create more League of Legends games.

Quote From The Verge - Andrew Webster ~ excerpt from article

League of Legends has been around for a decade, and with new titles like Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra, Riot is looking to create similarly long-lasting live-service games. Riot Forge has a different goal. With its new partners, Riot is aiming to build complementary experiences within the League universe, dubbing them as “completable” games. They’re the kinds of titles Riot has little experience with, hence the publishing initiative.

In other news for Riot, they will be paying $10 million to the women employed there in the past five years as part of a settlement for a class action lawsuit for alleged gender discrimination.

Quote From Washington Post - Elise Favis ~ excerpt from post

"Over the past year, we’ve made substantial progress toward evolving our culture and will continue this work as we strive to be the most inclusive company in gaming," Riot Games wrote in a statement to The Washington Post. "Our transformation over the 15 months has been massive and we’re just getting started."