Hey everyone, Skins and Monetization teams here to talk about some upcoming things you’ll see hitting PBE and the shop soon. In case you missed the last update from us, you can check that out here. The main topic we want to introduce today is a new thing we’ve been exploring and experimenting with: Mythic tiered loot-exclusive content, which we’re calling “Mythic Variants.”

Okay, so what’s this Mythic Variant thing?

Prestige skins showed us that all players had a desire for prestigious content, not just players motivated by exclusivity. However, changes over time to make Prestige skins more accessible (e.g. the Mythic Essence cashout option in Event Shops, Mythic Essence in milestone rewards, and Loot Showcase Prestiges like the upcoming Immortal Journey Sona also being available for Mythic Essence) meant they were no longer accomplishing those original goals for players who wanted ultra rare and exclusive content. Rather than trying to take away from players who are currently happy with the more accessible Prestige system by making those skins harder to get, we want to try something new instead.

We want to find other ways to offer exclusive items that feel really special to own. We’re starting this experiment by taking existing Legendary skins and taking a new stab at them and the fantasy they bring to the champion. For example, let's say we were going to make one of these skins for Jhin. We would update an existing Legendary skin and add special elements to moments unique to Jhin—say his 4th shot for example. And surprise, the first Mythic Variant will be Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin!

A new skin, but it's an old skin? What am I getting here?

Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin will feature updates over Dark Cosmic Jhin as a part of a reimagining of the theme, and will also come with a new splash art, icon, and border. We have a video showcasing the original Dark Cosmic Jhin and then a video of the new Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin so you can see what this new skin style looks like:

Original Dark Cosmic Jhin

New Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin

How do we get it?

We’ll be using the milestone system that you’re used to seeing for showcases like Immortal Journey Sona. For those who aren’t as familiar, the way it works is after you open 29 Cosmic 2023 Capsules you earn the guaranteed reward in that 30th capsule for that milestone rank. The Cosmic 2023 Capsules will be available during patch 13.17 and 13.18 for 750 RP.

Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin will be available as the 30 capsule milestone reward on the track, but will also show up as a 1% drop from the Cosmic 2023 Capsules that progress the track, meaning you can unlock him early if you're lucky. You do not need to own the original Dark Cosmic Jhin to obtain it as it’s not a Chroma. After the moment is over and the Capsules are gone, the skin will be held from the reroll pool for now. We’ll add him into the reroll pool sometime in 2024; it will depend on what we learn from these experiments. So you won't be able to specifically target it again, but it will eventually be available. For now, this is how we’re going to be introducing these and they will not be purchasable directly in the shop. But this may change in the future. We know this means that top spenders will be able to immediately reroll into this skin when it does hit the pool, but we think this is a small enough group that it won’t impact the feeling of exclusivity. This is all still an experiment for us so we’re eager to hear what you think of it in practice.

TL;DR:

You can obtain these skins from either:

• Opening a Cosmic 2023 Capsule and getting lucky
  • About a 1% chance to obtain Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin
• Opening 30 Cosmic 2023 Capsules while the event is active
  • It will be guaranteed to be in the 30th Capsule if you didn’t obtain it in the first 29 Cosmic 2023 Capsules
• Waiting until 2024 to potentially reroll into it with skin shards
  • We will give a heads up on when it will be hitting the reroll pool

Will this impact existing or future content?

Currently no. Everything you can normally buy in the store is staying the same, and the usual methods of acquisition of those items aren't changing. We only have plans to do this with new Mythic Variant skins.

We want to be mindful about what we consider for “exclusive content” and for now we’re keeping that pool somewhat small on purpose. Between the Mythic Shop, skin shard rerolling, and direct shop purchasing, the vast majority of content is accessible by players right now. However, we do want to find a way to begin offering some exclusive content to players— something that feels lucky to obtain or special to own. We’re going to be exploring this slowly, there won’t be an immediate change where suddenly it feels like you can’t get any of the new stuff through any of the ways you’re used to, and whenever we’re looking to do something new we plan on taking the time to present and talk about what we’re changing or trying. When it comes to anything monetization-related we always want to be very cautious and methodical about the approach. If we try this and it doesn’t work, then we’ll re-evaluate and try something else out, or change what we’re doing here with this.

Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you on the Rift!