Since League of Legends is a free-to-play game and one of Riot Games’ main revenue streams is in-game purchases. Selling Champion skins makes the most significant part of LoL’s micro-transactions system.
According to a report by FourWeekMBA Riot Games earned around $31 per second in 2021, or $2.64 million daily from micro-transactions. No wonder why Riot works very hard on dishing out more Champions and LoL skins rather than putting effort into fixing their spaghetti code.
Some Champions are proven money makers due to their popularity, so Riot often makes sure that they get a fresh new look. On the other hand, some Champions are entirely forgotten and haven’t gotten a new skin in ages.
| 22 skins | Lux Miss Fortune |
| 21 skins | Ahri Akali Ezreal |
| 19 skins | Ashe Caitlyn Lee Sin |
| 18 skins | Katarina Sivir Vayne |
| 17 skins | Annie Garen Kayle Leona Master Yi Riven Soraka Yasuo |
Besides being Riot’s “cash cows,” all Champions in the top 10 are very old. All of them have been released in 2011 or sooner, so it is logical that they have the most skins.
In fact, you would have to go pretty far down the list before you get to “newer” Champions. Out of 65 Champions with 13 or more skins, only Yasuo, Lucian, Thresh, Jinx, and Kai’sa have been released in 2013 or later.
To determine which Champions are the most lucrative for Riot, we can’t only look at the total number of skins they’ve got. Since almost all Champions with a lot of skins are 14 to 16 years old, we have to take a look at those who got a lot of skins in a short time frame.
For example, Kai’Sa was released in 2018, and in seven and a half years, she has 15 skins to her name, which is about two skins per year. In comparison, Alistar also has 15 skins, but he was released in 2009, so he gets a new skin every 13 months and a half on average.
Seraphine also matches Kai’Sa’s pace with ten skins in just five years. Senna is also very popular with the same amount of skins in one extra year. Pyke (2018) is also worth mentioning as he has a respectable skin release dynamic, with 12 skins to his name.
Another way to look at favorites is by looking at skin pricing. While champions of all levels of popularity can have expensive skins, it is no surprise that both Ahri and Kai’Sa have a skin sold for 50,000 RP.
Looking for the perfect champion to main? Explore all champions in League of Legends divided into roles to find your best fit.
When we look at the Champions with the least amount of skins, as expected it is dominated by new releases such as Zaahen, Yunara, Ambessa, etc. However, some Champions have been in the game for years but have only a few skins.
A prime example of Riot’s unfairness is Kled. It has been more than nine years since his release, and he has only four skins. It took two years since Kled joined the Rift to give him his first post-release skin.
Marauder Kled Image Source: Riot Games
Aurelion Sol, Illaoi, and Rek’Sai have one more, despite being released in 2016, 2015, and 2014, respectively. Tahm Kench (2015), Kalista (2014), Vel’Koz (2014), Quinn (2013), Zac (2013), Rumble (2011), Skarner, and Udyr (2009), have six. And Urgot and Taric are only at 7, despite being from the first year of League of Legends.
Quinn was mentioned just then, and she’s also currently holding an inglorious record with 1217 days since her last skin release. She is followed by Sejuani with 1107 skinless days, even though she has 12 skins in her collections. After her come Galio at 1049 days, Kennen at 1006, Kled again at 965, and 938 for Udyr.
Featured image credit: Riot Games
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