Even though the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase offered plenty of time to big Xbox exclusive games like Redfall and Starfield, Xbox Game Pass fought tooth and nail to steal the show. It certainly gave these big games a run for their money, since a staggering amount of content got confirmed for Xbox Game Pass during the show. Various first-party Game Pass confirmations came and went without much surprise, but the show included a few shocking additions, including Riot Games' League of Legends. PC fans hardly need Xbox Game Pass to access Riot's free-to-play MOBA, but subscribers can unlock every playable champion for free with Game Pass' help.
League of Legends has stood on its own two feet for so long that a collaboration with Microsoft hardly seems necessary, but it may be lucrative anyway. 150+ characters immediately at a Game Pass subscriber's disposal definitely makes a good case for giving the MOBA a chance. Overall, this collaboration makes sense in the context of League of Legends' recent upward trajectory. Riot Games has worked hard to make LoL's name known in the last several years, so it makes sense that Riot would offer potential players a new reason to finally start playing its flagship game.
League of Legends Has Become a Sprawling Franchise
For much of its life, League of Legends stood tall as Riot's only product. LoL was such an instant success that Riot hardly needed to develop other games, instead profiting off its efforts to polish the MOBA. In recent years, however, League of Legends has flourished as an IP. Side games taking inspiration from the world of Runeterra include the Dota Auto Chess cousin Teamfight Tactics, the Legends of Runeterra digital card game, and new singleplayer ventures such as Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. This vast network of games, all of which branch into different genres, have helped invite non-LoL players into the game's world and generally raised LoL's profile even higher than it already is.
Of course, spinoff games aren't the only thing providing momentum to League of Legends right now. The Netflix original show Arcane cannot be discounted for its impact. Arcane was one of 2021's most acclaimed shows, earning high praise for setting a new standard for video game adaptations. The show, telling the origin stories of classic champions like Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn, has made its own strong case for giving Riot's core game a try. A second season of Arcane is in the works, and while it'll reportedly take a long time to release, all eyes are on showrunner Fortiche Production regardless.
League of Legends Keeps Climbing
These various peripheral League of Legends projects make the game hard to ignore, but Riot would still be wise to offer some in-game reasons to try LoL in order to win over anyone who's on the fence. The Riot Games deal with Xbox Game Pass is exactly the kind of thing that it needs to do. League of Legends' champion roster is vast, and collecting them all can take months of play for even the most diligent players, but with the help fo Xbox Game Pass, some new players will instantly be able to try out whatever champion speaks to them without needing to earn the character first.
Hopefully the League of Legends Game Pass arrangement is a sign of things to come for the game. Now that LoL is more famous and popular than ever, Riot Games is in a perfect position to start making the game more mechanically accessible and enticing as well. Whether it means putting LoL deals on other subscription services or offering independent bargains, the time is right for the game to grow. Regardless of if Riot starts working with other subscription services, though, this deal certainly seems to mean good things for League of Legends: Wild Rift. Maybe this version of LoL will make it onto the Xbox soon with the help of Riot and Microsoft's new partnership.
League of Legends is available now on PC.