Publisher and developer Riot Games is currently testing a new game mode for wildly popular MOBA League of Legends that, if all goes well, could go live this summer.
In a video posted on Twitter, Executive Producer Jeremy Lee and Head of League Studios Andrei van Roon offered the first details about LoL’s new game mode while explaining the lack of new game modes in recent memory.
League of Legends New Game Mode 2023
The video was shared following Riot’s original response to fan backlash after the reveal of its underwhelming ranked season 2023 start cinematic, acknowledging that miss while addressing other issues with the game.
“The state of the game, both right now and for a little while, hasn’t consistently been what it should be,” van Roon said while noting that, despite a good couple of updates, the developers agree with this fan sentiment.
He went on to clarify that “for us, 2022 was very much a rebuilding year” both instead of the studio’s capabilities and the LoL development team.
“The good news is that the team is in a much better state now; the bad news is that the state of the game right now reflects where the team was last year rather than exactly what things are like today.”
League of Legends’ upcoming new game mode is actually intended to kickstart the effort of revitalizing the MOBA’s events, which have begun to feel repetitive and formulaic to fans.
“League used to have a game modes team, and I think a pretty good one, and we ended up using that team as the foundation for the development of Teamfight Tactics and the ongoing development of it. That was great for Teamfight Tactics as an experience, but at a cost to League.” van Roon said.
“And we’ve been gradually rebuilding that modes team, but, to be frank, we haven’t prioritized it or moved as fast as we should have. The good news, though, now, is that we have a new modes team that is staffed up and ready to execute,” Lee added.
This team already has a prototype for a new game mode that Lee describes as “really promising.” It revolves around four teams of two who battle against each other “in a series of deathmatch-like rounds,” buying items and leveling up in between them.
“It’s a little janky, it’s a little rough as a prototype, but we think it’s showing a lot of promise,” van Roon said, before adding that the team plans to share more details and art “probably in March and then hope to get it out around the middle of the year.”
Aside from League of Legends’ new 2023 game mode, the developer is also looking into improving things for the longer term by investing more in the underlying technology that goes into its games and improving communication with fans.
You can watch the whole video below and learn about the latest changes set to be introduced in patch 13.2 by clicking the link at the top of this article.
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A follow-up message from Riot Brightmoon and Riot Meddler on behalf of the League team.
— League of Legends (@LeagueOfLegends) January 13, 2023
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