From Mastercard advertisements in professional games to a Saturday Night Live sketches, League of Legends continues to have an influence on modern pop culture. With streetwear culture also becoming prominent in the same timespan, the crossover between the highly popular MOBA and the fashion world was bound to occur. An update to the Public Beta Environment server has confirmed that the game will collaborate with Japanese fashion brand A Bathing Ape.
Back in June, Riot Games promised players that Yasuo, one of the most popular champions in the League of Legends, would receive a prestige skin. These limited edition skins are characterized by their gold color and can only be unlocked by obtaining Prestige Points.
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The update, which also included the new champion Samira, came with the Prestige True Damage Yasuo skin which depicts the character wearing AAPE By A Bathing Ape-branded clothing and his Windwall spell having the AAPE logo on it. It is interesting to see that Riot Games have collaborated with the secondary line of AAPE as opposed to the primary BAPE line, but this decision may have been made as the AAPE line is directed towards younger people in Asian markets where League of Legends is most popular among that particular age demographic.
This is not the first time that Riot Games has collaborated with a fashion brand. Last year, the Los Angeles-based developer partnered with French fashion house Louis Vuitton to release two skins and an apparel collection designed by creative director Nicolas Ghesquiere. That partnership coincided with the 2019 League of Legends World Championship held in Europe. In the same vein, this collab with BAPE should synchronize with the 2020 World Championship which will be held in Shanghai, China next month.
On another note, this prestige skin is an upgrade to the existing True Damage skin in which Yasuo was part of a virtual hip hop group. If this skin is for the 2020 World Championship, it will come at the same time as an expected return from virtual K-pop girl group K/DA, with a potential narrative being on the cards.
League of Legends is available on PC.
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