Cover-Credits:
Riot Games’ mobile MOBA title, League of Legends: Wild Rift continues to rise in popularity globally. With the Wild Rift Southeast Asia Championship (WCS) 2022 Finals on the horizon, Riot Games hosted a press conference at which they discussed their achievements over the past year and their goals for the future. With the Southeast Asian (SEA) region being one of its biggest investments in Wild Rift’s esports scene, Riot Games aims to lead instead of chasing trends.
Riot Games shares Wild Rift’s journey in the SEA region so far
In preparation for the upcoming WCS 2022, Leo Faria shared a retrospect on Wild Rift’s achievements in the SEA region last year. According to him, “We called 2021 our year zero, it was all about experimentation, keeping our toes into Mobile [Esport], experimenting, trying out things for the first time, learning about mobile production.”
Last year’s SEA regional league peaked at 88,000 views with over 950+ teams participating from across the region.
Riot Games
With a successful run last year, the upcoming WCS 2022 will allow up to four teams to be seeded in the pinnacle of Wild Rift competitions, the Icons Global Championship 2022 which is scheduled to be held sometime in June.
Leo Faria also shared some of the challenges that Wild Rift has encountered in the mobile esports market. According to him, “In Southeast Asia specifically, as you all know, we have a challenge because the market there is quite fragmented. We have players and communities across multiple locales. So, trying to find a consistent way to provide competitional opportunities for players and teams has also been a challenge.”
With those challenges in mind, Riot Games aims to create equal opportunities, not only for pro players and teams to compete for glory but also for the fans who follow their favorite teams by providing the most optimal and comfortable broadcast schedules.
How Wild Rift intends to compete against Mobile Legends
One of the biggest mobile MOBA esports titles in the SEA region, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang has been one of the top-performing mobile esports in the market for several years. Its fanbase is heavily concentrated in the SEA region.
When asked how Wild Rift can potentially compete with one of the biggest mobile MOBA titles in SEA, Leo Faria stated, “The way we approach building products and experiences at Riot [Games] is we aim to lead and not to follow the market.” By setting its focus on what the players and fans want, Wild Rift aims to be able to provide what its fanbase and esports scene need to continue to rise in the mobile esports market.
The WCS 2022 Finals is scheduled to kick off on 23rd April and will take place until 8th May. With four slots for the upcoming Wild Rift Icons Global Championship 2022 up for grabs, the competition will be fierce at this tournament.
