Riot Games has confirmed that a new type of event reward is coming, with a Worlds Pass packed with rewards for fans of League of Legends and its esports scene.
Riot Games recently revealed its upcoming plans to support, grow, and monetize the League of Legends esports space after the departure of Counter-Logic Gaming and the rumored closure of TSM’s esports presence. During this, Riot Games announced a brand new approach to esports event passes, with a Worlds pass announced to deluge fans in rewards during the premiere event of the year.
Riot Games has been looking for ways to improve its event structure and rewards for a while, but it seems like the studio has started to settle on an approach it likes. In a post on Riot Games’ site titled One Shot: Building the Future of Sport at Riot Games, John Needham, the President of Esports at Riot Games, addressed the future of international events and Riot’s plans to enhance them. In the post, John Needham talks about wanting to enhance experiences for fans around international events.
The biggest difference between what Needham discusses and previous esports passes is that this new option could include team-specific rewards as well as physical offerings. Previous passes have been restricted to digital rewards, but all of them have been non-team-specific. There were more aspects as well, floating the idea of access to in-venue cameras and ways to follow players during matches directly, sounding somewhat like the old Pro View system.
Nothing has been officially confirmed, but it sounds like the League of Legends developer has its sights set on new experiences for fans. The possibility of physical rewards for an in-game pass is a new idea that Riot Games hasn’t floated before, and it’s an exciting change of pace.
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