Riot reveals the odds and rules that power League of Legends loot boxes

Riot Games has published an interesting breakdown of how in-game items drop from the loot box-styled ‘hextech chests’ it recently added to its long-running free-to-play MOBA League of Legends.

The decision to make the odds and other mechanics powering League of Legends’ loot boxes known notably comes at a time where many people, including lawmakers, are debating the place loot boxes have in video games.

Developers can find a published list of League’s loot box odds over on Riot’s support page, along with the odds for its upcoming ‘masterwork chests’ that offer better drops for a higher per-box price. Developers may also be interested in checking out Riot’s explanation of the ‘special rules’ that further dictate what drops players will receive when opening a chance-based chest as well.

For example, Riot says that a skin’s rarity doesn’t limit how often it’ll drop. For the most part, skins have the exact same chance of dropping in a loot box no matter their rarity ranking, with loot box exclusive skins being the only exception to that rule. 

The developer also has rules in place that prevent multiple skin-less dud boxes from opening in a row, limit character drops to only those above a certain value, and ensure that players receive bonus drops from time to time.

Riot notes that it also has a system in place that restricts players from earning loot boxes or the keys that unlock them through regular play if they’ve recently been cited for bad in-game behavior. That system prevents players from earning boxes for the duration of punishments like temporary suspensions or chat restrictions. Those restrictions continue until a player is “recognized to have made significant progress” in amending past behavior.