Sitting Down with Riot Games' Eduardo Cortejoso and Matt Leung-Harrison - IGN Live Day 2 Panel
In the ever-evolving cosmos of eSports, few games have managed to sustain a celestial orbit quite like League of Legends. At the helm of this interstellar journey are Eduardo Cortejoso, the Product Lead with a vision as expansive as the universe the game inhabits, and Matt Leung-Harrison, the Lead Game Designer whose creative constellations continue to dazzle players across the globe. Sitting down with these two architects of digital dreams, you quickly realize they’re not just designing a game; they’re curating an experience that transcends pixels and enters the realm of legend.
Eduardo Cortejoso (left) and Matt Leung-Harrison (right) from Riot Games during the IGN Live League of Legends panel.
If you’re unfamiliar with the digital coliseum known as League of Legends, imagine a realm where fantasy meets strategy in an electrifying spectacle of competitive fervor. It’s a virtual battleground where players, known as ‘summoners’, command a single ‘champion’ armed with unique abilities, and collaborate with teammates to dismantle the opposition’s defenses and ultimately destroy their nexus. It’s not just a game; it’s a global phenomenon that has redefined the landscape of multiplayer online battle arenas and spawned a vibrant community of gamers, artists, and storytellers alike.
Starting the session off, Eduardo and Matt discussed lessons learned from the Arena game mode. "Creating NOT League of Legends is a lot harder than creating League of Legends", said Eduardo. Matt took to the mic and discussed the difficulty in "balancing between a healthy meta and still providing good picks", while creating new and emergent Arena experiences for a variety of skill levels, "from the casual players to the hardcore eSports competitors".
Eduardo announced to the room that this summer they'll be reintroducing PvE modes, starting with a mode called "Bullet Heaven". This mode is similar to Vampire Survivors, according to Eduardo, and other co-op PvE experiences similar to it. With a variety of different modes the team hopes to provide different experiences. "League isn't only an eSports game. It can do more and provide more diverse gameplay".
"Creating NOT League of Legends is a lot harder than creating League of Legends" - Eduardo Cortejoso
Speaking of the variety of skill levels, Matt Leung-Harrison elaborated on the team's views of the different types of League players and how balancing plays into the new content they intend to introduce into the League of Legends ecosystem. "League has four distinct player types," said Matt. "We balance for pro, elite, skilled, and average players. We want to make sure that at any given skill bracket, nothing feels strictly overpowered. We need to make sure we're not making a hero super overpowered at the expense of the average player."
"The overall strategy for adding content to the game will be to try to make sure it serves different player audiences", Matt continued, explaining that they intend to continue to "test player tolerance" towards the new experiences they're releasing, pivoting League to be "more than just grinding rank". According to Eduardo, "League isn't only an eSports game. It can do more and provide more diverse gameplay."
League of Legends Arena map, "The Koi Pond". Imagine from https://www.leagueoflegends.com/en-us/news/dev/dev-arena-round-three/
Speaking more regarding balance and the new content coming to League of Legends, Matt talked about balancing the champions and, specifically, balancing them in the new content itself. "Perfect balance as a concept is hard to find. It doesn't exist. It's not about 'statistical balance' itself, but the perception of balance. We release a lot of content and it takes time to balance. New champions won't be mastered on Day 1. There's constant strategy development that happens over time, and it's hard to strive for perfect balance over that time."
"Variety is what keeps League spinning", Matt said. He then went on to talk about balancing the 'fun side' versus the 'competitive side'. "The overall strategy for adding content to the game will be to try to make sure it serves different player audiences". Ed then took to the mic, stating, "We think about changing kits to fit different game modes. This summer you'll see very drastic departures from our champion's kits that you weren't expecting as we build out and expand different game experiences."
The team hopes to "adapt to a new future" and challenge "a lot of built-up expectations that audiences have had for a long time". Matt elaborated, "Modes give people a new way to play. They don't need to know all of the champions and can ease friends into the League of Legends ecosystem, lraning how to branch out into League's core content". Using these new modes and gameplay archetypes, Ed sees the expansion of League's gameplay as a way for new or hesitant players to enter the game "with low stakes".
"This summer you'll see very drastic departures from our champion's kits that you weren't expecting as we build out and expand different game experiences." - Eduardo Cortejoso
I'll be attending IGN Live all weekend long. I'll continue to write about the latest game trailers and how discussions with developers on stage and in panels. There's plenty to be excited about, from announcements at tomorrow's Xbox Games Showcase to more interviews with Razer, an interview with Stig Asmussen, and exciting new looks at games from Ubisoft and Blumhouse Games. Keep checking back for more info!
