Riot Games says recent changes to League of Legends' reward system "didn't hit the mark for everyone," and so it's bringing Hextech Chests back and reducing the Blue Essence cost for new champions by half.
Riot said in a January update that League's reward systems had "become needlessly complex, with an excessive number of currencies, unnecessary steps to craft and claim rewards, overlapping loot types," and other issues. To rectify that, the studio moved most of the game's rewards onto the battle pass, a move meant to streamline the process. But doing so left level-up rewards almost non-existent, making it more difficult for new players to unlock champions and skins.
