Riot Explains How 'League of Legends' Ranked Rewards Will Work Next Season

Riot Games’ latest League of Legends video broke down how ranked rewards will work next season [...]

By Tanner Dedmon

Riot Games' latest League of Legends video broke down how ranked rewards will work next season when spread out across three individual splits.

Back in April, Riot Games said splitting the ranked season into three different splits was an idea being considered. Monday's update seen above confirms that that's indeed the route the developer is taking with different rewards earned throughout the splits. Riot Games senior designer Ed "Riot SapMagic" Altorfer said in the video that the current ranked format makes the season feel exceptionally long, but the new system will break it up into more manageable segments.

"Right now, the season is really long," Riot SapMagic said. "You basically play for 9 months straight and then, at the end, if you were good enough, we give you some rewards. A lot of players don't get any rewards, and it's also just kind of a slog. Next year, we're gonna break that up into three splits, so you have checkpoints to see how you're doing and set new goals, and so that we can make larger changes to the game when necessary."

Ranked rewards will now tie into splits, League of Legends game designer Primus "Riot Gortok" Majda added, but season rewards aren't going away. Instead, rewards will be added to the splits with a new "Split Points" system awarding points for games won during each split. The video above showed a graphic representing this new system that placed a bar at the bottom of the 2019 Season tab to track progress. Those who play throughout all three splits will get the best rewards though, Riot Games said.

"The main thing you're gonna earn with Split Points are upgrades to your ranked armor," Riot Gortok said. "You earn a new upgrade during each split. Additionally, the banner draped off the back will always show last season's rank. That means by the end of 2019, your armor will reflect your current rank, all your upgrades you've earned from splits during the season, and your rank from 2018.

This banner and ranked armor will be displayed through players' profiles and on the loading screens that transition them into games.

As for the season rewards, Riot SapMagic says that Riot Games will talk more about those when the season actually begins and players start their climbs, but he did confirm that the Victorious skin will still be a seasonal reward. It'll also still be a reward for Gold players despite Riot Games adding a new rank to progress through called "Iron," one of two new tiers with the other being "Grandmaster."

League of Legends' 2018 season ends on November 12th with a preseason period following it before the start of the 2019 season.

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