League of Legends goes free-to-play

The info from the official press release below. More details at the game's official Web site.

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RIOT GAMES TO BRING HIGHLY ANTICIPATED LEAGUE OF LEGENDS TO THE COMMUNITY FOR FREE

Riot Introduces Summoner System and Virtual Currency for Play Diversity, Customization and Novelty

LOS ANGELES - July 14, 2009 - Riot Games, an independent developer and publisher of premium online video games, has unveiled the Summoner and currency systems for its highly anticipated online multiplayer session-based game League of Legends. In a quest to make the title available to all gamers, and to support and reward a passionate community of competitive players, Riot has confirmed that League of Legends will be free. Optional payment will enable additional virtual currency to be used within the Summoner system meta game for play diversity, customization and novelty. League of Legends, which was nominated for the Game Critics Awards Best Strategy Game of E3, will be available for Windows PC in September 2009.

"One of our goals at Riot has been to set a high quality bar for core games that are available for free online as we believe that a relentless focus on delivering tremendous value to online communities will earn player loyalty," Brandon Beck, co-founder and CEO, Riot Games, said. "League of Legends is being built as a highly competitive core game that we believe will change many people's minds about the type and caliber of games that can be offered for free."

A player in League of Legends takes on the role of a Summoner – a gifted spell caster who has the power to bring forth a champion to fight as his or her avatar in Valoran's Fields of Justice. As the Summoner controls the champion in combat, it also influences the outcome of the match through the use of spells, masteries and runes. Once a match is over, the Summoner gains Influence Points and Riot Points.

Influence Points will be earned by simply playing the game, while Riot Points will be available for purchase with real money. Both currencies will be used to unlock additional content customization options, whereas only Influence Points will be used to unlock content such as Runes, which enhance the power of playable characters. Gamers who spend money in the game will not have a power advantage over other players; they will have access to rare visual customization options. The system is designed to empower the player with a huge number of mechanical choices that deepen the level of the strategic thinking in the game.