Riot opens up on “TFT 2.0” plans as autobattler primes for evolution in 2022

Teamfight Tactics has been a roaring success since its 2019 launch, especially in TFT Set 6 ⁠— which has won players back after a decline in Set 5. Now, Riot are gearing up for a big expansion in the League of Legends autobattler, outlining plans of a TFT 2.0.

TFT has gone from strength-to-strength in 2021. While Reckoning and its Shadow Items fell short of players’ expectations, an explosive launch in TFT Set 6 with Gizmos and Gadgets has brought the autobattler back to its peak.

Old names like William ‘scarra’ Li, Becca, and even Jeremy ‘Disguised Toast’ Wang have jumped back into the autobattler, and hype is brewing for what Riot does next.

However, the developers have their eyes on a bigger project than just the Set 6.5 Mid-Set, or even Set 7. It’s the thought of a “TFT 2.0,” according to lead developer Stephen ‘Mortdog’ Mortimer. It’s not a sequel per se, rather a rapid expansion of the autobattler to continue innovating set-on-set.

“I remember Meddler [the Vice President of Game Direction for League of Legends] was like ‘we need to find a TFT 2.0,’ and in a lot of different ways, I think this year got us in that direction really heavily. There’s going to be some announcements early next year that I think will show what we’re talking about,” Mortdog explained on stream.

This includes some big in-game shifts ⁠— including the introduction of Silco, TFT’s first non-League of Legends unit in Set 6.5. Set 7 is also deep in development, although no tidbits have been made publicly available.

• Read More: The best TFT Set 6 comps

However, it’s also reflected internally at Riot, with the development team growing by the month on the autobattler.

“We’ve got more people. We have a leadership team, new engineers, new artists, new designers. It feels like 2022 will keep leveling up [TFT],” Mortdog said.

The related segment begins at 1:12:17.

With a three-year plan in motion ⁠— and enough set designs to last even longer ⁠— the TFT developers are confident that if they can deliver “on half the things”, the autobattler won’t be around for years to come, but decades.

“In typical TFT fashion, we might be biting off more than we can chew, but if we can deliver on half that stuff, we take those,” Mortdog stated.

“I sit and listen all day to player complaints…there’s so much opportunity for growth and we’re already at this high ceiling, but we can keep going bigger.”

With a TFT co-op mode already out, and spectator client for tournaments (although there’s no plans to bring it to regular players), a lot of player demands have been satisfied. However, TFT has a bright future ahead, all starting with February’s Set 6.5 Mid-Set expansion.