Riot Games’ seasonal event Spirit Blossom is a runaway success

Riot Games have set a new standard for seasonal in-game events with the spectacular cross-game, anime-themed offering named Spirit Blossom.

The event will entice gamers into the world of Runeterra by offering thematically stunning visuals, a shared storyline to tie the lore of their games based in Runeterra together, themed missions, cosmetic skins and exclusive rewards.

Cosmetics are popular with gamers for a variety of reasons. The first is simply fashion. Skins help players stand out in a crowd. With titles like League of Legends (LoL) that have been around for more than 10 years, they can also help to shake up the look and feel of a game to help prevent it from feeling stale visually.

Lol has come a long way since its release in 2009. Just last year, the game reached eight million concurrent players every single day, and its 2019 World Championship brought in more than 100 million viewers. In the US, the game boasts a 115 million player base.

But the game is even more popular in the eastern hemisphere in Asia and countries like Australia, where, where major competitions like the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) and Oceanic Pro League (OPL) are being followed by millions of fans.

These competitions are so big that bookmakers started creating specialized esports sportsbooks, allowing players to support their favourite regional teams. For instance, e-sports betting at PlayUp on legendary e-sports teams like the Chiefs Esports Club on the OPL is huge among the local fanbase.

Riot is looking to use this established success to give a boost to its two newer titles based in the same world, namely Teamfight Tactics and Legends of Runeterra. Despite sharing the same world, tying the three games together was no easy feat. None of them shares a genre, while Legend of Runeterra is still brand new without much lore behind it.

Riot achieved it through a great concept and stunning visual design. It all started merely as an idea for a new line of skins. They were drawn to the spiritual aspect of folklore because of the cosmetic design possibilities and drew inspiration from anime and films.

The idea grew and grew, and soon it became apparent to the team it was going to flower into something much bigger than a new line of cosmetics. The thematic development team of writers and artists producers began crafting the concept that would become Spirit Blossom.

While the temptation to go down the tried and true ‘good vs evil’ route would’ve been strong, the team behind Spirit Blossom was determined to create something unique and engaging.

“We didn’t want this to be another versus event, so we had to make sure there was no overarching tension in the spirit realm. It was important that this world and its inhabitants had a blue-and-orange morality, rather than black-and-white,” explains Jared Rosen, the thematic development narrative lead behind the project.

It became a festival to celebrate the blossoming of an actual (in-game) spirit flower, which denizens of Runeterra gather around to commune with loved ones who have passed. The event has grown into so much more than just a skin line, the events, missions and storylines are now considered canon for the world of Runeterra. It’s been written into the official history.

Interestingly, Riot has also created a bit of a problem for themselves with Spirit Blossom. The company has not been known for ground-breaking seasonal events in the past, but this has changed the game for not only them but the entire gaming industry, even for other legendary developers like Blizzard Entertainment.

Both fan and critical reception, even if fancy new skins aren’t enough to help you play like a pro, has been very positive and will undoubtedly result in increased interest and player numbers for all the games involved.

The event was a resounding, stunning success, and fans’ expectations for future events will be sky-high. Flashy skins and in-game items alone won’t cut it anymore after the intricate and beautiful world-building achieved by Spirit Blossom.