Last year, League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics developer Riot Games said it was working on a spectator mode for TFT, calling it a “very high priority” for the studio at the time. However, it seems plans to release the option at some point this year have been pushed back, as the studio has needed to “focus on some other areas of the game first”.
That’s according to a new roadmap video the studio’s posted on the autobattler’s Twitter channel, in which lead producer TJ ‘Green Teej’ Bourus discusses “what’s coming in the next few months for TFT”, including systems and modes it’s got in the pipeline. As part of the “other ways to engage with TFT” Riot’s working on, Bourus says, “we’re still exploring spectator mode as a way to improve the TFT viewing experience.
“We know how important this feature will be, especially for those of you that like to watch TFT at a high-level play, and we wanted to deliver that to you this year,” the dev adds.
However, he explains Riot’s had to turn its attention to some other aspects first, “like keeping up with the new set cadence, as well as the mobile release”. Bourus explains that the studio doesn’t have a precise release window pinned down and ready to share with fans for this mode just yet, but says “we’re now clearing out space for this work to begin, and we’ll keep you updated as we progress”.
Learn about TFT's next set and what we have planned for the autobattler going into 2021! pic.twitter.com/DzPMRY3LZ9
— Teamfight Tactics (@TFT) August 6, 2020
Teamfight Tactics’ sister MOBA game, League of Legends, has had a spectator mode for quite a few years, and TFT itself does already have some existing functionality that lets you keep an eye on how a match progresses once you’ve been knocked out of it. But it sounds like we’ll likely have to wait until sometime in 2021 to see the fully-fleshed out mode hit the live game.
tl;dw version! pic.twitter.com/8dqUCrgX3d
— Teamfight Tactics (@TFT) August 6, 2020
In the meantime, take a look at the TFT patch 10.16 notes to get an idea of the balance changes and other goodies just headed to the game, as well as well as our guide on how to play Teamfight Tactics, if you’re new to the game and keen to get started.