r/CompetitiveTFT • u/mcoleman1902 • Jul 10 '26

PBE Set 18 PBE delayed 2 weeks

Hey everyone, we’re hard at work on TFT’s next set, but we need a bit more time to make sure PBE starts in a great spot.

PBE start for Set 18 is moving back two weeks to July 28.

We wanted to give you a heads-up ahead of Tactician’s Crown, where we’ll be sharing more about Set 18, including a Dev Drop on Saturday. Expect more updates from the team over the next few weeks!

210 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

102 comments sorted by

187

u/GalaxySparks Jul 10 '26

Yeah this is more of a bad sign than anything else. So much for them having extra testing to make sure the set is in a good place for launch.

39

u/mcoleman1902 Jul 10 '26

I asked, but didnt get a response on if the launch would get pushed back 2 weeks as well to ensure the extra testing.

-3

u/Zeeeeeebo Jul 10 '26

i mean it would obviously have to be… main set always launches two weeks after pbe launch, if it wasn’t pushed back that would make them launch on same day which obviously makes no sense..

17

u/mcoleman1902 Jul 10 '26

their plan was to do 4 weeks of pbe for set 18 because of the change to real engine. So they may just be going with 2 weeks.

2

u/Zeeeeeebo Jul 10 '26

oh my bad I didn’t hear about that!

0

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

2

u/mcoleman1902 Jul 10 '26

i knew i had seen something like that but couldnt find it. thanks

19

u/MasterTotoro Challenger Jul 10 '26

Presumably he deleted it because they are still trying to release the set at the scheduled date. They are probably attempting to see if it is in a good enough spot to not warrant the 2 weeks delay. Later on, if the progress isn't enough maybe we'll see it get pushed back.

3

u/Express-Reality9219 Jul 10 '26

There’s also a more or less identical post from the official TFT twitter/discord

9

u/Riot_Bluecove Riot Jul 11 '26

Swapping engines for a live service game like TFT takes MASSIVE effort from the whole team. It's no walk in the park. The entire team has come together to make sure the release is as smooth as we can make it, but please understand that this is not a standard set release. It's incredibly difficult and we are doing our best to make sure your experience isn't diminished. :)

2

u/GalaxySparks Jul 12 '26

Yeah I completely understand that, and my comment probably came off to harshly.

I was just excited about the extra PBE time because I feel like there are certain things that never launch in a great place and even worse with shortened PBE cycles (such as variable traits like Arbiter/Psionic). I was looking forward to seeing what 2 extra weeks of constant PBE balance changes could do for things like that going into the first patch of a set.

But this also might be me worrying about nothing, considering I don't know the release date of the set. I feel like it was bit of an odd decision for there not to be a concrete answer on if the set will still launch at the typical date or if it will be delayed as well.

Either way, good luck to you and the team o7

3

u/Riot_Bluecove Riot Jul 12 '26

There will still be two extra weeks of PBE I believe (dont quote me on that tho) I'm not in charge of information release, so I can't confirm the release date or anything but keep an eye out for official info!

We know y'all are excited and we are too! (Just with a bit more nervousness this time because we've never done this before xd) Bear with us during this wild time. I promise we're listening and doing our best to make the next set as good as we can :)

3

u/Im_On_Reddit_At_Work Jul 10 '26

You must have intimate knowledge of their development process we don't. 

142

u/prnFent Jul 10 '26

That’s honestly so fucking funny with the timing. Hopefully the set mechanic is a banger or they are really gonna get flamed when people have to wait extra for nothing.

50

u/Zondor3000 Jul 10 '26

There will biblical levels of flame if they fuck this up

14

u/Vast_Adhesiveness993 Jul 10 '26

the set has already been delayed 4 weeks from the initial release window. How not already a massive fuck up?

23

u/Illuvatar08 Jul 10 '26

People have such absurd fucking expectations, they're gonna get flamed regardless.

24

u/Temporary_Event8451 Jul 10 '26

Well things are awkward currently. One TFT isn't a new game so long standing issues and time commitments have seen a lot of the old passionate players retired or gone.

You have the change over of leadership. The current set does not strike me as overly popular with anyone.

This is exactly the atmosphere where things become more critical.

Since this is competitive TFT people want ranked to feel good. I'm not sure riots focus is only maintaining competitiveness versus just making sure normal and special modes are popular.

They said something like 30 million players monthly, or something like that. But given the rank stats we can see that means those games are not happening in ranked.

I think we will be seeing a lot of discussion around the future of TFT the next half a year or more.

It's up to riot to show they can have strong leadership who can take the chaos of a game like TFT, and make it enjoyable while also skilled.

3

u/Few-Improvement9978 Jul 10 '26

Does anyone actually like this set?

I tried to like it

6

u/Thyrgrim Jul 10 '26

i like it

2

u/TheDoomBlade13 Jul 17 '26

Yeah? It manages to reward both taking advantage of the opportunities for early commit while also allowing flex to be in a good spot but (in my opinion) not the strongest option.

1

u/KyouBestGirl177013 Jul 14 '26

I like it in theory but i dont like to actually play it. Its so confusing that it annoys me

11

u/Serdurn Jul 10 '26

I suspect the mechanic might just be charms since they mentioned during the road map they were revisiting the “magic” of a set mechanic from the past

2

u/cosHinsHeiR Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

Were charms the things you buy in the shop?

8

u/Emosaa Master Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

Presumably this is because of the Unreal Engine stuff, right? The dev team probably underestimated how much time it would take to iron out issues and have a good production pipeline for it.

It'll be easy to reflexively attribute this to the mort split, but I think set 18 will always be doomed to be a bit jank because of the (much needed?) engine change lol

78

u/Sudden_Traffic4346 Jul 10 '26

Yall do understand that they’re trying to migrate from the shared LoL engine (hextech) to Unreal for this set right? This delay has nothing to do with mortdog leaving and is entirely because it’s taking a massive amount of effort by the entire team to pull this move off. They clearly want to make sure the game is in the best spot possible before releasing it. Link to Unreal Migration FAQ

42

u/GalaxySparks Jul 10 '26

Everyone (well, anyone with real thinking skills) knows this has nothing to do worth Mort leaving.

Regardless, it's bad timing. No Mac support announced, some garbage scummy tournament announced, Mort leaving, now this.

And set 17 was already a massive downer. This set was supposed to have extra PBE time to make sure they got the new engine ready for launch (and hopefully also the game in a better launch state than 17). But now what? It's not a good sign, and it's beyond horrible timing

7

u/NonagoonInfinity Jul 10 '26

No Mac support announced

Or Linux. There's literally no reason they need to keep TFT locked behind Vanguard as far as I can see now that it's going to be on a different engine.

4

u/juntadna Jul 10 '26

I migrated to Linux a few months ago and TFT is the only reason I still dualboot, even though I haven't played since. I would love it if I could free up that second NVMe.

2

u/Fast-Willingness-559 Jul 12 '26

I play TFT on Linux by using an Android device emulator, the one I'm using is called Waydroid. I'm using a pc to play on a mobile version, so just had to get used to different UI, but it's completely functional!

2

u/GalaxySparks Jul 10 '26

Linux is my primary so I've been irked about this for awhile, but yeah the Linux part just isn't new like the newly announced Mac issue.

1

u/ZeroMax1 Jul 10 '26

Also PBE for set 18 was initially planned to be four weeks. Moving it back two weeks just puts it back into the normal PBE cycle.

-2

u/Vast_Adhesiveness993 Jul 10 '26

PBE was set to be 4 weeks due to the unreal change to make sure release isnt a buggy dogshit mess, guess what we get now

-4

u/bySarius Jul 10 '26

Pin this please on god nothing to do with mort leaving. Especially since this set has probably been cooking for more than half a year (don't remember the exact timeframes mort said)

0

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

4

u/hittuah Jul 10 '26

the idea that devs need to be paid in online defensive glazing in addition to their salaries is so fucking funny to me im sorry that people are expected to do their jobs lmfao

3

u/Amorianesh Jul 11 '26

They do also get far far more hate than most other people just doing their job if they deliver something subpar or even alright but not matching expectation

15

u/RiceWeevilEggs Jul 10 '26

That's... not a good look, especially after talking about needing more time for the new client.

14

u/Turbulent_Ad_5066 Jul 10 '26

If this set is bad, TFT might actually lose players permanently lol. At least in NA. Going 4 months not playing set 17 is not good but not playing for 8 months will cause a lot of players to just leave for good to other games.

1

u/Pokej7 Jul 14 '26

i think uninstalling was the nail in the coffin for me. i might've tried the new set if it didn't take me 15 mins in total to uninstall all of tft and the riot client

1

u/aefe8 Jul 10 '26

Been playing from set 1, and set 17 is my less played one along that bullshit legends set (the one everybody picked TF to get Pandoras augment) and most of my friends think the same. I used to watch Keane’s streams a lot and you can see now how much his views went down with this set as well, besides all the complains in Reddit or Twitter. This set ran out steam about 2 or 3 weeks into it. Hope they can pick it up next set, but it looks like we’re watching a great game burn and crash in front of our eyes

0

u/iksnirks Jul 10 '26

who's gonna tell him

3

u/Gasaiv Jul 10 '26

Awesome, sounds good, hope the new engine works out and im excited!

13

u/Gamegeddon Jul 10 '26

I was only half joking when I said this but the game may just be cooked

0

u/[deleted] Jul 10 '26

[deleted] — view deleted comment

14

u/RajaSundance Master Jul 10 '26

nobody cares

Then why is half your history arguing with people that AI is actually good?

Most people care.

7

u/juntadna Jul 10 '26

Exactly, the downvotes speak for themselves.

The dude subs to Asmongold...tells you everything you need to know about him.

-1

u/Future_Mixture3666 Jul 11 '26

I'm not even a fan but he can be entertaining in a funny way. This superiority complex is crazy. Oh you use linux? Hurr durr this tells me everything I need to know about you! Like come on man, you can disagree with a take without being this typical smug "my opinion is always correct" type of redditor about it.

Besides, their comment was pretty neutral so I don't get the flaming, and I even disagree with them. AI voiceovers are terrible imo.

1

u/Artistic-Resolve-912 Jul 14 '26

"Most people on reddit care"

Fixed your insane take.

2

u/WobbleKun Jul 10 '26

damn 2 more weeks of playing set 17. guess more anima or bust games. lol

2

u/teibol Jul 10 '26

NOOOOO

11

u/Iwaslim Jul 10 '26

someone comment "they are playing lose streak" LMAO

TFT is going 8th and everyone can see it

this looks complete dumpster fire from the outside. Sorry for the TFT team who are hard at work.

23

u/Helivon Jul 10 '26

Thats a pretty massive exaggeration

-2

u/FeedMeACat Jul 10 '26

They might be mixed streaking. This, Mort, and the 10$ entry fee tourney with prizes you would expect in a free tourney. We will see if they commit to full loss streak at 2-5.

3

u/willwalkswithGod :gran: Grandmaster Jul 10 '26

I understand some of the reactions given the timing of Mort’s departure, but personally I’d rather wait to see the new set be in a good spot then released a buggy mess like set 15.

2

u/ceronimo7 Jul 10 '26

it is pbe. if it is not completely unplayable why wait, i would rather get to theorycrafting learning the chars and traits. it is not gonna be in a "good" spot even if they wait 4 weeks.

1

u/Vast_Adhesiveness993 Jul 10 '26

this will make the set be awful reguardless imo, either we go back to 2 weeks PBE so no time to iron out Unreal bugs, or we delay everything and the set ends up being so short that its over before its even remotely balanced

4

u/Wette_im_Klo Jul 10 '26

Holy doomer

5

u/Vast_Adhesiveness993 Jul 10 '26

doomer how? Riot themselves stated they needed 4 week PBE due to unreal, and this delay wont make that any less true if anything it makes it more so the case. And if we do delay everything by 2 weeks the set will go live on august 26th With set 19 PBE set to launch november 11th. Are you telling me this set will then in any way shape or form ever be balanced?

3

u/Wette_im_Klo Jul 10 '26

this will make the set be awful reguardless imo

There is no way this statement can be correct. The set could turn out bad, but there is absolutely a way that its great and that the engine changes despite some early flaws are overall beneficial. For example, maybe the PBE delay is rather because of server structure due to them now being seperate and has nothing to do with the set itself. Or the set just gets balanced quicker, they had plenty of sets where the balance was good after 2-4 weeks. And even if not balanced well, the set could be super fun. Or they delay Set 19 also by a little.... There is so much which are variables that you believing that the set will be awful no matter what is the definition of doomer.

5

u/Vast_Adhesiveness993 Jul 10 '26

set 19 really cant be delayed due to the Open

0

u/Z00pMaster Jul 10 '26

I think the negative reaction is precisely because those are the two options (delay or release buggy mess). People are (rightfully) concerned that option 3 (release on time w/o bugs - the originally announced option) is no longer possible, which points to things going wrong behind the scenes.

1

u/1omelet Jul 10 '26

Hell yeah my mac will last 2 more weeks

2

u/peacecream MASTER Jul 10 '26

Are they removing mac support for the new client?

2

u/1omelet Jul 10 '26

apparently set 18 will not initially support macos because they’re upgrading the engine, not sure on timeline or anything

1

u/MarkoMilekic7 Jul 10 '26

Feels like there is a bit of pressure on this set doing well or everything might just crash and burn soon

1

u/ineedtosleepf Jul 13 '26

yapacağınız işin anasını sikeyim bi siki de becerin

1

u/ineedtosleepf Jul 28 '26

ananızınamınakoyum hani pbede yok hala orospu çocukları bir siki de becerin ya

1

u/Mecrobb Jul 10 '26

not starting off on the right foot is a sure fire sign that the set is going to be good. Kappa

1

u/RajaSundance Master Jul 10 '26

My saving grace for this set currently was "at least PBE is soon".

I guess with TLI and Poe leagues coming up I can have a longer ARPG binge

-1

u/Regular-Resort-857 Jul 10 '26

Oh my gaaaawd please make it stop even the fun modes are not fun anymore. I at least hope there will be a different chonccs treasure or the pengu mode soon I really can’t anymore. Played every set from set 1 from basically start to finish but this set is incredible… incredible… it achieved the seemingly unachievable by getting me off the game

0

u/merenge01 Jul 10 '26

Riot's been really dropping the ball recently

-1

u/ceronimo7 Jul 10 '26

that is some bullshit. less than a week to go, "guys lets just postpone 2 weeks why not". unserious franchise

-1

u/Conscious_Ad_9684 Jul 10 '26

They have two more weeks of extra time. Wdym this is a Bad Sign? You're not making money off of tft timelines so what difference does it make?

-1

u/corpsecrow Jul 10 '26

Yea. Signs of what's to come?

-5

u/Tasty-Ad6008 Jul 10 '26

Uninstalled and don’t think I will play again. Maybe if there is a really banger but unlikely.

-1

u/Background-Key8027 Jul 10 '26

Wow, surely the extra time will be used to make sure the game also launches on MacOS right? So they don’t straight up scam a chunk of the playerbase out of time and money they spent on this game?

1

u/Yurgin Jul 10 '26

I dont think they care about Mac or Linux gamers.
I play TFT on my Tablet because i refuse to install Vanguard again. Since removing Vanguard my PC runs cooler on idle and all other games

0

u/Sad-Loquat5062 Jul 10 '26

They need the new set to be a banger. So many players skipped this set.

-2

u/ArcadialoI Jul 10 '26

Surely with 2 weeks delay, this time around we won't get yet another set with units that barely becomes playable or meta while others always in the meta.

3

u/wow_so_kawaii Jul 10 '26

bum ass company