From time to time we get questions on how we chose weekly free champions. We rotate the Champions to keep the game fresh for those that haven't unlocked all the Champions.

Here is how we choose which ones are free:

Champion Rotation Goals
1) Give new players some simple Champions to play
2) Provide a balance of types of Champions for new players
-- This allows new players to make balanced teams
3) Allow players to preview all Champions eventually

Given these goals we look at player feedback, and decide which Champions should be free next week that allow us to meet these goals.

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Frequently Asked Questions:
Q Will new Champions always be free the first week?
A No, we will debut Champions that need to be unlocked, but eventually they will be free (see goal 3).

Q Will some Champions be free more often than others?
A Yes, because some Champions are simpler to play that others, and our first goal with the free Champion rotation is to allow new players simple Champions to try for their first games.

Q I don't think Alistar is a Tank
A Okay - not a question, but yes, thanks to our item system, Champions can be built different ways. That means many Champions can be played as different types (for example, as a Tank or Melee DPS). To keep things simple, we list only one type for each Champion in our statistics, but many of them can be played differently than the type we list.

Q Do the Champions rotate on the same day every week?
A No. We often synch the Champion rotation with the new content and patches we are releasing. Because we won't release the patches until they are done, this means they sometimes don't fall on the same day each week. This leads us to rotate our Champions on different days of the week to try and get even amounts of time between Champion rotations. This is also why we don't announce the exact date of the rotation.

I'll link to this post from the Champion rotation announcements to answer the questions that keep coming up. If there are more frequently asked questions, I'll post the answers here.

Thanks for all the requests for free Champions!

-Rusofilo

Having a new champion free the first week would allow people to try before they buy.
Would this be good for the player? Yes. If you aren't impressed with the champion then you know not to buy it.

Now would this be good for Riot? If Riot magically released their sales statistics I'd be able to make a determination but I speculate this is not profitable for Riot because I'm assuming many purchases are made by veteran players craving a new character and who are all too eager to spend money for a character that very few will have or have ever seen before. It is much more likely the veteran players supply a very large portion of Riot's direct profit to satisfy their consumerist craving for immediate satisfaction, that was largely built off of pre-release hype - that was paid for by Riot in the first place... and something tells me Riot probably wants to profit off of it's advertising dollars.

Making a Champion available to everyone the first week would allow a much greater population of players to experience and learn about the character and his/her abilities before it is available for profit. I conjecture that if the champ is bad, they will make much less then they would have had they not made it free the first week because people will know the champ is bad and not buy it. If the character is really good then they might be able to make more then they would have should a large number of people seek to satisfy their withdrawal from the new character... but I doubt it.

If the new champion is not free the first week then the appeal of having a new unknown character mixed with advertising and pre-release tension most likely pushes most to buy the character right off the bat. I know I would because I always want to play a new character as much as possible before it eventually becomes free and people get familiar with them.

I also wonder how many people actually already hold off on buying new champs until they becomes free to see if they're good or not.. wish could do some good solid studies

i was hoping you would let new champions also get put into the free champs for a week, this way, people can get the feel before purcahsing it, at make the final desicion if its worth the 6400 or w.e its worth
You know what i mean?

You can't blame them for their scheme. Only have a select amount of champions be free. Have the new champions be free a week or two after their release. This allows sales for the champions that are similar in style, yet quite different. This also allows for the new champion freebie to be a teaser so that people will purchase the new champions. Hey guys... they have to make money just like the rest of us.