Riot adjusts regional pricing of virtual currency across its live games
"These adjustments are necessary to combat manipulation we're seeing in the system," developer says
Riot Games is altering regional pricing of its virtual currency, with one country seeing increases over 70%.
Announced yesterday, the developer said these changes have been made in order to "better balance prices between regions."
It also hopes to combat third parties exploiting methods such as VPNs and server transfers to purchase virtual currency at low prices in one region and sell it in another.
From September 18, the change will affect all five of its live games which include League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, Valorant, and League of Legends: Wild Rift.
The United States will see no change in pricing, while Ukraine will experience increases of between 64% and 74% across all games. For League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics specifically, the Philippines will see a 40% rise while Vietnam will observe a 41% increase.
The biggest drop in regional pricing is in Colombia, which will see a 16% decrease for Legends of Runeterra.
"In some regions, a significant portion – or even a majority – of currency purchases are made by these third parties or players from outside the region," the company wrote.
"We know these changes are especially tough for players in regions with the largest increases, and we're not thrilled about it either. The reality is that these adjustments are necessary to combat the manipulation we're seeing in the system and to ensure that everyone is playing on a level field."
It continued: "Our hope is that by balancing currency values more consistently across regions, we can reduce the opportunities for exploitation and maintain fairness for everyone."