Riot explains why Arcane wiped out a League of Legends Champion

League of Legends is over 15 years old. The game is almost old enough to drive or coordinate, and its developers at Riot Games were not shy, Retcons or revisions on champions or other aspects of the game as needed. Even long -time players can be surprised by these overhaul. For example, a champion was 11 years in the game before he was suddenly replaced by someone who is completely new, but with the same name. The new Viktor was taken from by ArcaneWhat is much less confusing for new players – but what happens to the long -time fans of a champion if your beloved main character is replaced by a “better” version?

If you are one Arcane Fan, that is a natural decision that makes sense. If you are one League of Legends Veteran, it inspires questions about the larger canon of the game. I turned to Riot to find out more about the reinvestment of Viktor and how to find out how ArcaneThe new tradition fits the larger one league Library.

Polygon: How did the “new” Viktor come about? This was a creative decision by Fortechen that this uprising decided on adoption for League of LegendsOr was the new design a joint effort?

Paul Bellezza, executive producer of League of Legends: In relation Arcane To reach the Viktor, we see in the game. But how he arrived there on the show was ultimately led by Christian [Linke, co-creator of Arcane] And the Fortiche team. And when his character development started to take a slightly different course both visually and narratively, we were all in this new iteration of Viktor, also in the game instead of keeping them separate. The adoption was definitely a creative decision by Riot and fortiche. It started with a Viktor main strength that worked on it League of Legendswho then joined the animation team, which led to the development of Viktor's “super” form and led to the fact that people were very excited to take it into the game. It was a lot that a game in collaboration with the Fortiche team had efforts.

Arnaud-Loris Baudry, designer production: A long -standing, influential illustrator on the League of Legends Splash Art Team and Viktor Main have joined the animation team with its own idea of ​​how “great” Viktor could look. Viktor's human version was already designed and he started when we wanted to imagine how we would visually take Viktor on this trip. And it actually took four years of work to get from the first ideas to the final design.

Gem Lim, Art Director at Champions (League of Legends): This was definitely a different perspective to hide updates. We had to keep things under closure than usual because we wanted to support Arcane And avoid spoilers to create a big moment for players with their new look. It was risky not to be able to show his progress and to get so much contributions from the players, but one of the best things about Riot is that we are not afraid to try something new. And I would rather try something like that if the opportunity is offered.

At what time did it decide that the “old” Viktor instead of the Arcane Version of the character? Was there internal debates to maintain the original topics?

Beauty: As soon as we knew what would happen in the show and the vision of the team for Viktor's action, we worked together in cooperation with the Riot animation team and the fortche. We wanted to celebrate his story and this new version of Viktor in the game and said to ourselves: “We will do this at an amazing moment for spectators and players.” And so this was a deliberate decision that we all made together because we were enthusiastic about the development of the character.

Kihna Manker, creative producer of film/TV: I would say too Arcane Season 1 had released at this time, and so we saw a revival of Viktor as a figure that the players really were in to which really interested. So there was a lot of trust in which the game team had used Arcaneas well as the trajectory that this character would have in the future.

Are Arcane Viktor and new league Viktor the same character? Is Arcane Canon in the storyline “Welcome to Noxus” that is currently being set up? If so, is league Viktor technically dead in the current canon?

Beauty: The NOxus story that league does it and the CG that we made for season 2025; It's all a universe. So yes, Arcane Viktor is the Viktor you see in the game. And we have tied the end of directly Arcane Up to the beginning of our first season 2025 cinemas “Welcome to NOxus”, with Mel arriving on the banks of the NOxus to clear out this universe. We were also very excited for this special video to work with fortes and were of the opinion Arcane.

Is league Viktor technically dead in the current canon? We don't know what happened to Viktor in definitely Arcane; Like the audience, we have to interpret what the show showed us from Jayce and Viktor's conclusion. Ultimately, the game is a representation of the IP.

There are a few design elements from the original Viktor (the hair from the mask, the third arm), and I'm curious why the team decided to keep these specific pieces?

LIM: Something we know from visual updates in the past is that players (especially the network) feel very and passionately about the original design of their champions. So also as a story for Arcane Developed, the teams understood intuitively that the Viktor in which they see Arcane Should at least begin visually with what is currently involved. Although you may not have known what specific elements you would initially keep, it was always planned to ensure that part of the original design would remain. There is also a consideration of Champion Silhouette readability in the update of champions in the game. We don't want to deviate too far from the players with which the players are familiar. Otherwise you could just as well do a new champion.

Baudry: In this sense, we wanted to show his transformation through the development of its physical aids when we wanted to examine the redesign of Viktor's final form on the show: the braces, the crutch, etc. His crutch turned into a rod and his braces on his upper body actually became an armor. Visually, we wanted to represent the journey from someone, whose physical challenges became symbols of strength and transformation and ultimately became an almost god -like being. Fortunately, some of these original design elements really fit the story that we told through its transformation.

There were fans feedback that Viktor now shares some thematic overlaps with Champions such as Malzahar and Lissandra. How did the team work to keep it differently? Is there another champion that could take on the thematic role “robot overlord”?

Laurie Goulding, narrative director of the League Studio: When we talk about character issues, we not only think of our champions in relation to the MOBA, but also of the wider IP setting. I like the possibilities within a world like Runeterra to show that sometimes the same lessons in thousands of years in the world are not learned and interpreted. Just because someone has made a similar mistake in the past or has followed a similar journey to a different character in the world, that does not mean no one else will ever make the same mistake or try a similar procedure in the future. I like the type of cyclical nature of some of the moral lessons that our characters do not learn or have similar but slightly different directions. It's not necessarily the same, but it rhymes. That feels authentic for me.

In the past, Riot developers have spoken about how Champion revisions can lead to the original network of this character expressing dissatisfaction or ending the game. What did Viktor's player base look like before? Arcane And the rework? Why was he justified for this drastic change and was the counter reaction of long -term Viktor networks worth the original version?

Beauty: This year not only an champion for an update is being considered based on old, readability, outdated gameplay, etc., but we also consider the thematic adaptation to one season so that the players see a coherent drop of content. Similarly, Viktor was a champion before this official decision, of which we thought Arcane Time frame as when we updated Caitlyn in the first season of Arcane. And he obviously went through this great transformation on the show that we also wanted to be able to come into play.

Every champion update inevitably becomes risky and risky. We try our best to alleviate the risk by trying to keep the core elements, love players, and ensure that we do not lose the essence of the original character while we update our current standards. Sometimes this means that we continue to urge when some long -time fans feel comfortable, and it is a good equalization act to try to manage it. While we are proud of the development of Viktor Arcane And we will continue to think about his new appearance in the game about which components were resonant or not resonant with our players and take the findings on the way.