In the September dev update for Teamfight Tactics, it was revealed that Riot will soon be implementing its own premium currency for the game, TFT Coins.
TFT Coins are going to eventually replace Riot Points (RP) as the way to buy cosmetics for Teamfight Tactics on PC; the mobile store is more direct with its microtransactions and simply charges you the direct cost. For now, RP will continue to be the premium currency for PC, but that will change later this year.
Apparently changing from Riot Points to TFT Coins will save the team “a lot of time managing in-game stores.” I’m not sure how exactly, but they know better than I do. Plus they say it will allow them to spend more time actually creating more content, whether it be new cosmetics, unique game modes and mechanics, or things that actually make the game better.
It’s believed that the intention of this switch has more to do with Riot wanting to split Teamfight Tactics from the League of Legends client. Although the game operates as its own client on mobile, the only way to play it on PC right now is to install the League of Legends client, which acts as a barrier to new players who may not have any interest in the MOBA. By existing within the League client, it feels more like a spinoff game mode rather than its own thing. By distancing itself from Riot Points, this could be the first step to Teamfight Tactics becoming its own standalone game.
Others, myself included, believe this move stems from the recent Epic vs Apple lawsuit — specifically with how the Google Play Store and Apple App Store operate. In a blog post dating back to 2019, Riot vaguely addressed the issue when announcing a change in name from Riot Points to simply “RP.”
Our newly announced mobile titles, Legends of Runeterra, TFT, and League of Legends: Wild Rift, will be on the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, which do not allow different games to share game currencies. This restriction and other logistical complications of having multi-platform game currencies pushed us towards having a different one for each game.
The announcement of TFT Coins probably comes as a bit of a surprise to Teamfight Tactics players, but this has literally been the case for all of Riot’s other games. Legends of Runeterra uses Coin while VALORANT uses VALORANT Points.
Because the App stores don’t allow games to share currencies, you can’t have one universal currency, like RP, that you can just purchase and split between games. That’s why each of these games has its own individual currency and why the TFT store on mobile currently operates with direct cash.
The difference with TFT and these games, however, is that they have their own standalone client on PC as well. Because Teamfight Tactics operates within the League client, you can actually use RP right now on PC to purchase cosmetics for TFT. These cosmetics are then tied to your account, so you can use them on mobile as well. It’s all very convoluted right now and the simplest thing for Riot to do is simply implement a currency unique to TFT, which is what they are doing later this year.
The downside of this is that you’ll now have to convert real cash into this specific in-game currency. And then with the way cosmetics are “oddly” priced, you’ll wind up with uneven amounts leftover. You’ll have too little to purchase something, so you’ll either have a low balance just sit there or you’ll have to convert more cash into TFT Coins.
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