Riot Games celebrated 10 years of League of Legends this week with an event focused around the game, its community, and its future projects.
The main takeaway from the event was that the developer finally put the ‘s’ in ‘Riot Games.’
What’s new for League of Legends?
Starting off with the game that started it all for the developer, it unveiled the usual host of pre-season changes to League of Legends — including changes to the map, changes to how the elemental dragon buffs interact, and changes to make the Elder Dragon more powerful. These come alongside the usual host of community-dividing buffs, nerfs, and gameplay tweaks.
Riot Games revealed an 11-day celebration within League of Legends, offering fans daily rewards by playing games, which culminates in a Legendary skin and a host of borders and icons. It also unveiled a new champion — Senna, Shadow’s Embrace – with a fancy new CGI trailer.
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Going mobile
Riot Games also confirmed that its two existing games are heading to mobile. League of Legends: Wild Rift will be available on iOS, Android, and consoles in 2020. This new version of LoL is not just a PC port; the developer has designed the game specifically for the new platforms.
Teamfight Tactics, the League of Legends auto-battler mode, is also getting a standalone mobile release. Unlike Wild Rifts, TFT mobile will provide cross-platform play with PC.
Legends of Runeterra
Legends of Runeterra is the next game that we’ll see released by Riot Games, with players able to pre-register now ahead of the game’s 2020 release. It’s currently available to select users who sign up, with the digital card game already placing high on Twitch’s top streamed games list.
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Projects A, F, & L
Riot Games announced three more new titles in the form of first-person shooter Project A, RPG Project F, and fighting game Project L.
Project A seems to be the furthest along – the stylish, competitive, character-driven shooter appears to merge the style of Overwatch with the gun-play of CS:GO. No date was announce for the project, though more details are expected in 2020.
Project L was first revealed at the most recent EVO Championship. The fighting game is set inside the LoL universe, with Ahri, Darius, Jinx, and Katarina already being showcased.
Lastly, Project F was shown the least and appeared to be a Diablo-like action-adventure RPG title set in the world of League of Legends.
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There’s more?
Riot Games discussed one last game, League of Legends Esports Manager. This Football Manager-esque title will be available first in the Chinese LPL region in 2020.
Speaking about the title, Riot Games had this to say: “The game will create unique moments only possible through the collection of popular pro players to create never-before-seen rosters. Using gameplay that combines esports strategy with a brand new AI system, the title will create a tactical experience bespoke to LoL Esports. You’ll be able to play through the game in two ways: Experiencing an esports story through the eyes of a single protagonist, or competing against friends and other players through ranked play.”
Riot Games also announced a documentary titled League of Legends Origins and an animated series named Arcane.
Esports Insider says: It’s very clear that Riot Games is looking to corner its share of the gaming and esports market, doing what Blizzard has been doing in the last 15 years and announcing it all in one night. The developer is catering to a lot of crowds with one fell swoop here, we’re a Battle Royale title away from it effectively occupying each of the major gaming genres in the next few years.
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