Riot announced a new League of Legends skins tier after more layoffs. But you can't buy it the normal way. Instead, you'll need to roll the dice.

Riot announced the new Exalted Skins Tier for League of Legends, just days after the publisher laid off even more employees to ensure that "we have the expertise to continue to make League great for another 15+ years."

In a blog, a developer writes: "Exalted was a new skin tier we defined as a luxury good last December." "Over the past year, we have refined what luxury goods are, and where they appear in our catalog. "Exalted skins will be available to players who are looking for skins that are more inclusive."

Riot announced at the end of last season that it was restructuring its business model. In the same blog post, Riot stated that "League should be about playing better and not spending money." However, it also announced that a higher level of skins would be classified as luxury goods. These skins are Mythic Variants such as Dark Cosmic Erasure Jhin or Breakout True Damage Ekko. They cost around $200/PS154.

The newest skin released by Riot to celebrate Arcane Season 2 will fall into the category above. Arcane Fractured Jix has "two distinct models in three different forms, and VFX to highlight her story." There's also a unique voice over for each form. You can switch between the three forms at any time by using the slot-machine mechanic controlled via Jinx's Ctrl+5. If you win big, you'll change forms.

The blog post states that "these forms will also reflect across three HUD overlays for Jinx's Passive, which reflect some her experiences from season one and some from season two." "We wish we could reveal more, but again, spoilers."

The Sanctum is the only way to get the new Jinx Skin. Riot says that when they were designing the way you could acquire exalted Skins, they considered setting a fixed price. "However we decided to pursue a different way to allow players who might not want to commit themselves to a higher price the chance of getting them at a cheaper investment--so, we built a system called the Sanctum in that regard."

In the Sanctum players can use a new currency, ancient sparks, to win rewards from a pool. The new Jinx skin is classified as "S-tier" content. Other content includes exclusive paragon chromas, select skins (A-tier), or mythic essence (B Tier). Drop rates for each tier vary from 0.5% to 10.5% to 89.5%.

You can buy ancient sparks (in-game League currency) for 400RP, which is $3/PS2.50. If you want to have a better chance at getting the Jinx skin you can invest 32000RP which is around $246/PS205. This will give you 80 rolls, which are apparently enough for the skin.

This policy is a wolf dressed in sheep's clothes. Riot claims that there is a "bad-luck" protection, which is supposed to "ensure you're not too far away from the item you desire." This still seems iffy and isn't far from the practice of loot box. This practice has been removed by most major games, including Overwatch, as it is seen as a form gambling or at the very least predatory.

The blog post states that "Skins are our primary way of monetising League." The blog post says that the revenue from skins (especially those at higher prices) allows us to invest into areas such as new modes, champions and further explorations of the narrative, like the Spirit of Hearth Home Minigame. We are committed to making a great experience, and your investment allows us to do that.

Even though the new tier is a great way to keep League running, players aren't happy. One player said, "I want to regulate this shit out of existence." "Gacha shit like this should automatically make your game 18+-rated."

Recently, a League of Legends subreddit also tried to understand Riot's thinking. Another player says, "Make ultimate skins. Drop quality ever since Lux, make exalted Tier, still less content than Lux, 10x the cost, profit." Some players have also mentioned that this new skin tier comes at a time where Riot has just fired a bunch of talented artists who are responsible for creating skins. "Also, firing a lot talented and good skin developers, etc." Too... [Riot] has lost their mind over whales that would spend hundreds of dollars on a skin ..."

Ben Rosado was one of the artists who was affected by the recent round Riot layoffs. He was responsible for many legendary skins including the $500 Ahri Skin that was created to celebrate esports star Faker. Rosado said in an X posting, "These were my best years, but now it's time to go back to the job boards."

Exalted skins have come at a bad moment for League of Legends. It will be interesting to see what players do when they try to hunt down the skins.