Riot defended limiting free Hextech Chests to the store in February 2025, arguing that they had become a major way players obtained skins and were contributing to fewer skin purchases. After players objected, Riot acknowledged the change had missed the mark and announced a return through the free Pass and Honor. That was a different route from the old system—and Riot’s later Honor guidance changed the picture again.
Why Riot defended restricting free Hextech Chests
In its February 7, 2025 Season One check-in, Riot defended restricting free Hextech Chests to store availability. Insider Gaming’s contemporaneous report said developers linked the popularity of free chests to a decline in skin purchases and framed the restriction as a matter of long-term sustainability. This is the report’s summary of Riot’s position; the underlying video transcript is not available here, so it should not be treated as a verbatim quotation.
The policy changed how players could obtain the reward: chests that had been earned for free through play were limited to the store. The debate was therefore about more than whether chests were free. It was also about whether playing and progressing in League would continue to provide a meaningful path to cosmetic loot.
How Riot responded to player criticism
On February 26, 2025, Riot developers Meddler and Pabro published a developer update acknowledging that Riot had not fully understood how much chests mattered to players’ sense that time in League felt rewarding. Riot said the changes had missed the mark and announced that chests would return starting with patch 25.05.
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The announcement was a reversal, but not a restoration of the previous route unchanged. Riot placed the rewards on progression tracks and described the new allocation as a response to players who said they preferred chests.
What the February 2025 return plan included
Under the plan announced by Riot in 2025, players could earn eight chests and keys per Act through the free Pass, with two additional chests per Act through Honor. Riot said the plan allowed a maximum of 60 chests per year. These were figures for the announced plan, not a guarantee that the same amounts or channels remain current.
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| Channel in Riot’s 2025 plan | Reward per Act | What changed |
|---|---|---|
| Free Pass | Eight chests and keys | Replaced the free Pass seasonal skin and Mystery Epic or Lower Skin. |
| Honor | Two additional chests | Added a second progression-based route to the announced chest rewards. |
| Annual maximum | 60 chests | Riot’s stated maximum under the 2025 plan. |
Riot also published opening probabilities in its February 2025 announcement. They describe that announcement’s chest rewards; they should not be assumed to be today’s odds without current reward documentation.
| Reward | Riot’s published figure |
|---|---|
| Skin shard | 50% of openings |
| Champion shard | 25% of openings |
| Emote permanent | 10% of openings |
| Ward skin shard plus 150 bonus Orange Essence | 11.5% of openings |
| Summoner icon permanent plus 150 bonus Orange Essence | 3.5% of openings |
| Bonus 10 Mythic Essence drop | 3.6% |
| Bonus chest and key | 10% |
The listed bonus drops are additional outcomes, so their percentages are not all mutually exclusive with the main reward probabilities.
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What the later Honor clarification says
Riot’s May 30, 2026 support article says Honor no longer grants Hextech content simply for playing games. Instead, it describes two Honor Objectives per Season Act that can award lootable content and Battle Pass XP. This is a later clarification, distinct from the February 2025 announcement of two Honor chests per Act; the older chest allocation should not be read as a current promise.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The chest dispute was part of a wider rewards debate
Riot’s February 2025 developer update also announced a 50% reduction in Blue Essence costs for all champions, effective with patch 25.05, and discussed planned improvements to Battle Pass skins. Those announcements placed the chest reversal within a broader conversation about how League rewards players and monetizes cosmetics.
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