Teamfight Tactics turns 7: Riot Games discusses lessons learned and the road ahead | exclusive interview

In June 2019, Riot Games launched Teamfight Tactics into a crowded and growing auto-battler genre that included major competitors like the original Dota Auto Chess. Seven years later, TFT has become the dominant game in the space. Ahead of Teamfight Tactics’ seventh anniversary tomorrow, June 26, GamesBeat spoke with Teamfight Tactics head of gameplay Alex Cole for an exclusive interview about the strategy driving the game’s ongoing success — and the ways Riot Games plans to celebrate it in and out of the game. Here are some of the key takeaways.Teamfight Tactics is not about the daily grind Cole described Teamfight Tactics as “healthier than a lot of other mobile games” due to Riot’s goal to avoid heaping pressure on players to play on a day-by-day basis. Instead, he said Riot wants TFT to be players “favorite second game,” with users jumping in and out of the game to experiment with sets that interest them and retreat from other, more stressful games. “They just know TFT is always there for them, so when GTA 6 comes out — whenever it comes out — they can all go play GTA 6, and then TFT will still be there for when they get burned out on that,” he said.The introduction of Augments was a turning point Cole flagged Augments — game-warping permanent buffs — as a key mechanic in TFT, framing their introduction in the game’s sixth set as a major turning point that helped define its unique identity. “It was the first time that we were like, “wow, we really have a mechanic here that I think is just going to become an integral part of the game,’” he said. Another major turning point for Teamfight Tactics came in set 10, when the game moved from its previous release model — with two sets per year and two mid-set releases — to a three-set-per-year schedule. “We had never really landed on what we wanted a mid-set to be, identity wise, and they were pretty hit-or-miss,” Cole said. “So being able to just shift that work into delivering a whole ‘nother set for players was pretty huge.”Learning from failure was key to TFT’s growth The shift to a three-set-per-year release schedule was not the only example of Teamfight Tactics’ development team learning from their mistakes or potential missteps. Cole highlighted set five’s Shadow Items as an example of a high-profile miss, with players hating the mandatory kiss/curse dynamic. As a result, Cole’s team temporarily backed away from that space, then reintroduced risk/reward mechanics in a more opt-in way. “Every set teaches us something, for sure — and we actually put out learning articles at the end of every set of, ‘hey, we just want to be transparent: Here’s everything we learned, and here’s what we’re going to try to do better moving forward,’” Cole said.The development battle continues in the East Although Teamfight Tactics has become the predominant auto-battler game in Western markets, Cole said that the arms race for auto-battler development is ongoing in Asia, with many companies jockeying to build superior auto-battlers in a process that Cole described as “healthy for us.” “We are the best game out there, and it’s kind of invigorating to have people try to come for the throne,” he said. In general, the auto-battler genre is more popular in the East, which Cole acknowledged factored into Teamfight Tactics’ audience demographics. “We’re definitely bigger on mobile and Eastern audiences, just because the core of TFT is probably still a 30-to-35-minute experience, and Western markets just aren’t quite ready for that yet,” Cole said. “But in Eastern markets, where they’re more used to playing on their phone, we’ve really done well in the past couple of years, and we’ve definitely been wanting to invest more in there on the tech side.”Ongoing tech and monetization changes The Teamfight Tactics development team is not resting on its laurels. Riot continues to make significant updates to the technological backend and monetization structure of the game, with the company announcing its shift from Riot’s proprietary Hextech game engine to Unreal Engine at Unreal Fest last week. In addition to these technical shifts — which Cole teased but did not reveal during his interview with GamesBeat. Instead, he focused on the evolution of Riot’s monetization strategy around Teamfight Tactics, describing how monetization started very simply with purchasable “Little Legend” tacticians and expanded into offerings geared toward high-tier spenders, like desirable Unbound Champion and Mythic Chibi in-game items. “We’ve figured out what we want to do for our high-tier spenders, and now most of our effort is going towards how we can better satisfy the middle- and low-tier spenders, so they have really cool stuff to spend on the game,” Cole said. “So, that’s the next frontier of TFT monetization.” The post Teamfight Tactics turns 7: Riot Games discusses lessons learned and the road ahead | exclusive interview appeared first on GamesBeat.

Jun 25, 2026 - 20:29

Teamfight Tactics turns 7: Riot Games discusses lessons learned and the road ahead | exclusive interview

In June 2019, Riot Games launched Teamfight Tactics into a crowded and growing auto-battler genre that included major competitors like the original Dota Auto Chess. Seven years later, TFT has become the dominant game in the space.

Ahead of Teamfight Tactics’ seventh anniversary tomorrow, June 26, GamesBeat spoke with Teamfight Tactics head of gameplay Alex Cole for an exclusive interview about the strategy driving the game’s ongoing success — and the ways Riot Games plans to celebrate it in and out of the game. Here are some of the key takeaways.

Teamfight Tactics is not about the daily grind

Cole described Teamfight Tactics as “healthier than a lot of other mobile games” due to Riot’s goal to avoid heaping pressure on players to play on a day-by-day basis. Instead, he said Riot wants TFT to be players “favorite second game,” with users jumping in and out of the game to experiment with sets that interest them and retreat from other, more stressful games.

“They just know TFT is always there for them, so when GTA 6 comes out — whenever it comes out — they can all go play GTA 6, and then TFT will still be there for when they get burned out on that,” he said.

The introduction of Augments was a turning point

Cole flagged Augments — game-warping permanent buffs — as a key mechanic in TFT, framing their introduction in the game’s sixth set as a major turning point that helped define its unique identity.

“It was the first time that we were like, “wow, we really have a mechanic here that I think is just going to become an integral part of the game,’” he said.

Another major turning point for Teamfight Tactics came in set 10, when the game moved from its previous release model — with two sets per year and two mid-set releases — to a three-set-per-year schedule.

“We had never really landed on what we wanted a mid-set to be, identity wise, and they were pretty hit-or-miss,” Cole said. “So being able to just shift that work into delivering a whole ‘nother set for players was pretty huge.”

Learning from failure was key to TFT’s growth

The shift to a three-set-per-year release schedule was not the only example of Teamfight Tactics’ development team learning from their mistakes or potential missteps. Cole highlighted set five’s Shadow Items as an example of a high-profile miss, with players hating the mandatory kiss/curse dynamic. As a result, Cole’s team temporarily backed away from that space, then reintroduced risk/reward mechanics in a more opt-in way.

“Every set teaches us something, for sure — and we actually put out learning articles at the end of every set of, ‘hey, we just want to be transparent: Here’s everything we learned, and here’s what we’re going to try to do better moving forward,’” Cole said.

The development battle continues in the East

Although Teamfight Tactics has become the predominant auto-battler game in Western markets, Cole said that the arms race for auto-battler development is ongoing in Asia, with many companies jockeying to build superior auto-battlers in a process that Cole described as “healthy for us.”

“We are the best game out there, and it’s kind of invigorating to have people try to come for the throne,” he said.

In general, the auto-battler genre is more popular in the East, which Cole acknowledged factored into Teamfight Tactics’ audience demographics.

“We’re definitely bigger on mobile and Eastern audiences, just because the core of TFT is probably still a 30-to-35-minute experience, and Western markets just aren’t quite ready for that yet,” Cole said. “But in Eastern markets, where they’re more used to playing on their phone, we’ve really done well in the past couple of years, and we’ve definitely been wanting to invest more in there on the tech side.”

Ongoing tech and monetization changes

The Teamfight Tactics development team is not resting on its laurels. Riot continues to make significant updates to the technological backend and monetization structure of the game, with the company announcing its shift from Riot’s proprietary Hextech game engine to Unreal Engine at Unreal Fest last week. In addition to these technical shifts — which Cole teased but did not reveal during his interview with GamesBeat. Instead, he focused on the evolution of Riot’s monetization strategy around Teamfight Tactics, describing how monetization started very simply with purchasable “Little Legend” tacticians and expanded into offerings geared toward high-tier spenders, like desirable Unbound Champion and Mythic Chibi in-game items.

“We’ve figured out what we want to do for our high-tier spenders, and now most of our effort is going towards how we can better satisfy the middle- and low-tier spenders, so they have really cool stuff to spend on the game,” Cole said. “So, that’s the next frontier of TFT monetization.”

The post Teamfight Tactics turns 7: Riot Games discusses lessons learned and the road ahead | exclusive interview appeared first on GamesBeat.

Tags:

All Pets in Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced

What's Your Reaction?

Dislike

Love

Funny

Angry

Sad

Wow

XINKER - Business and Income Tips Explore XINKER, the ultimate platform for mastering business strategies, discovering passive income opportunities, and learning success principles. Join a community of thinkers dedicated to achieving financial freedom and entrepreneurial excellence.