Riot says ditching loot boxes will help Legends of Runeterra stand out from the CCG crowd

It's been a big week for Riot Games - and one that finally means that "s" makes sense. Celebrating its 10th anniversary on Wednesday, Riot announced a slew of completely new games, and projects ranging from an animated series to a full port of League of Legends onto mobile.

One of the most interesting things amongst all that celebratory noise was the announcement of Legends of Runeterra, a collectible card game, or CCG, using League of Legends characters and lore. It's what Hearthstone is to World of Warcraft, essentially, or more pertinently what Artifact is (or perhaps was) to rival MOBA Dota 2.

It's releasing at an unusual time. Hearthstone's audience has, by most accounts, gradually shrunk - current issues with Blizzard and China notwithstanding - and Artifact is perhaps the most high-profile flop in recent memory, with the huge reputation of Dota, resources of Valve, and experience of Magic the Gathering legend Richard Garfield not enough to keep it ticking along in any meaningful way. There's also, intriguingly, a complete lack of booster packs, loot boxes, or any kind of random chance microtransaction in the Legends of Runeterra - a major change from the genre's norm.

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