Cover-Credits:
Wild Rift fans in India were on the receiving end of some updates when Wild Rift Global Head of Esports Leo “Noharris” Faria revealed that Riot Games was ready to build an esports scene in India after the game is launched in the region. In an interview with RiftGuides titled “The Future of Wild Rift”, Faria answered questions about the much anticipated esports scene for Wild Rift India.
Faria also spoke about the experience Riot gathered from organizing the Horizon Cup and how the publisher is translating it into the upcoming Wild Rift Global Championship Icons. He also addressed questions around Wild Rift Esports’ marketing, the toxicity the game developers face on social media, and the balancing of the game around pro play.
Wild Rift Esports in India
Addressing a question regarding whether India would be included in Wild Rift Global Championship Icons, the official global tournament for the game, Faria said he feels the pain of the community and that it is fair to ask the question ‘What about India?’ “They’re asking because they care and because they want to play the game. I think we’re all super humbled,” added Faria.
Throwing more light on the release of the game in India, Faria said, “Unfortunately I can’t speak to the plans to launch the game there (India). What I can tell you from an esports perspective is when the game is launched in India, we’ll be ready to go. We’ll be ready to build an esports team there.”
To the question: “Can you call Icons a real global championship if India is not there?”, Faria pointed out that a tournament “cannot not happen if a specific region can’t attend.” He also spoke about instances where many Southeast Asian teams were unable to participate in League of Legends Worlds but the tournament still went ahead. Faria acknowledged the challenge around Indian Wild Rift teams and players. He said, “It is not like they don’t want to, they don’t have the chance (to participate). But what’s the alternative? The alternative is not doing a global championship and when you do that you are actually penalizing the entire globe.”
On a positive note, he said that Riot was making investments to grow its presence in India, which could potentially mean something for the game’s release in the future.
Wild Rift unavailable in some regions
Wild Rift has not yet been launched in some countries in Southeast Asia, including India and Sri Lanka, and players have been using Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to access the game. The regions that do not have Wild Rift have been asking Riot about the details of when a global release could be expected.
One Reddit user posted how they have been getting vague answers from Rioters when they reached out to them via tickets and questioned, “In the unlikely scenario that it does get released globally... let's say tomorrow? What about the years of content and events that the untapped player base has missed out on? Again, it's a minor complaint but still a valid concern.”
Although the players are yet to receive a definite answer from Riot about the release of Wild Rift in countries like India, it is evident that it has not forgotten the region and is working behind-the-scenes to make the game available for all and explore a more rounded esports scene.
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