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Riot Games has revealed its plans for the League of Legends (LoL): Wild Rift esports scene through a blog post. According to the head of Wild Rift esports, Leo Faria, they are dedicated to building an esports scene for its rising mobile MOBA title. Riot Games plans to establish an esports scene in Wild Rift that is self-sustaining and independent of its PC counterpart. The blog post also added that the team is looking to bring global tournaments to non-obvious locations around the world, especially in Southeast Asia where esports is in high demand. More information about Riot Games’ plans regarding its Wild Rift esports scene can be found below.
Riot Games Shares Its Plans for Wild Rift Esports
Head of Wild Rift esports, Leo Faria, shared Riot Games’ goals for its Wild Rift esports ecosystem. He stated that building the esports scene for the rising mobile MOBA took a lot of time and consideration. Just because League of Legends PC esports is successful doesn’t mean that the esports scene for Wild Rift will surely be as successful.
Faria believes that inspiring fans to play the game is one of the important aspects of building an esports scene. Having a professional esports player inspire their fans to be like him can ignite the passion of enthusiasts to try competitive esports.
“You see a person doing something great, and it ignites your passion to do it yourself. We don’t believe that inspiration will naturally click for WR players watching LoL PC pros, first because the games aren’t the same, and second because a large portion of WR players uses their phones as their primary gaming device,” stated Faria.
Faria also added that they don’t see Wild Rift as a way to bolster the LoL esports scene and vice versa. Riot Games want the mobile MOBA counterpart to be as successful and maybe even surpass its success someday.
“There is a lot to learn and leverage from the broader League of Legends ecosystem, but Wild Rift esports is not viewed here at Riot Games as a gateway to LoL Esports,” Faria stated. “Being the Wild Rift world champion should feel just as amazing and prestigious as being the LoL world champion. Winning in Wild Rift is the ultimate goal.”
The head of Wild Rift esports then stated that they plan on expanding the esports scene internationally and make Wild Rift the first mobile game to have the biggest reach globally. They plan on starting with western regions like the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East.
Faria also added that they will move fast and aggressively, especially in regions like China and Southeast Asia where mobile esports is dominant. Riot Games will not focus on the future alone, but also on the present.
“At the end of the day, creating a global mobile esport is about going where players are. We don't see mobile esports as something solely for the future, but as something of the present, and we are confidently committing to it in the long-term, building a sport for generations to come,” stated Faria.
Faria also made heavy emphasis on building a stable esports system where esports organizations can continue to thrive and commit to building strong teams and make Wild Rift esports look more attractive for potential organizations or players to venture into.
“Sustainability is key to developing professionalism. Eventually, we will invest more energy into grassroots play, but we want to ensure our players first have an apex level of competition,” stated Faria.
Riot Games is also looking for ways to improve the experience of the esports audiences on mobile devices. Currently, esports is not fully optimized for small screens but the devs are working on ways to make esports more entertaining on mobile devices.
“If mobile esports is going to transform the industry, then we want to ensure the viewing experience evolves alongside it,” stated Faria.
Faria admitted that building an esports scene will take time and patience but he is confident that Riot Games has a strong vision and commitment to establishing a strong mobile esports scene for Wild Rift.
