/dev: Wild Rift Esports

Hey everyone, I’m Leo Faria, the head of Wild Rift esports. I’m excited to share our vision and plans for esports with you, so let’s jump right in!

WHY WILD RIFT ESPORTS?

Over the last decade, we have built a successful esports ecosystem for LoL Esports. The expectation that we would build new ones for our other games may seem obvious, but that’s not the case. Building Wild Rift esports was a decision that took a lot of time and consideration, so I believe it’s important to explain why we are doing it.

One of the key roles that esports plays for any game is creating inspiration to play. It’s the idea of players looking up to pros and thinking, “that could be me” — the same reason why people admire professional athletes. 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 use their phones as their primary gaming device.

In addition, WR players are as important to us as LoL PC players. We’re building a new esports ecosystem that is self-sustaining and independent of LoL Esports on PC. 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. 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.

We’re seeing a great appetite for Wild Rift esports. Since we announced the game back in 2019, influencers, pro teams, partners, and the media have constantly asked us if we are doing esports for Wild Rift and how they can join. Not doing it would mean stamping out the fire for competition that is very real in the community.

For all these reasons, we’re going all in on Wild Rift Esports and are very committed to making it happen. We want to re-imagine what we think amazing mobile esports can look like, so you can expect Riot’s full force of production, creativity, and operations behind our newest venture.

HOW WILL WE DO THIS?

It’s important to highlight that there’s a significant difference in how mobile esports are perceived around the world. In most Asian countries, mobile esports are popular and are among the most successful esports properties, but we’re going beyond that. We aspire to make Wild Rift the first truly global mobile esport, breaking into all corners of the globe. We will do that by investing significantly in western regions, like the Americas, Europe, and the Middle East. We will also bring our global tournaments to non-obvious locations around the world. Of course, like the game itself, we will move fast and aggressively in mobile-predominant markets like China and Southeast Asia where the demand is immense.

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.

As we think about how to build the sport, there are two pieces to consider: Esports as a watching experience, and esports as a participating experience. At Riot Games, we expect all our games to be fun to play, but some will be better to watch than others. That’s also true with traditional sports. We believe Wild Rift delivers on the high stakes moments that make a sport fun to spectate. The explosive teamfights, crazy Baron steals, insane backdoors—those are all exciting things that make Wild Rift fast-paced, engaging, and entertaining to watch.

We’re starting by focusing our efforts on Wild Rift at the professional level. One of the things we learned throughout the years is that for a sport to be successful, it needs stability. Organizations need to trust that there will be tournaments to play in and that Wild Rift esports is here to stay. That allows them to commit to building strong teams and ultimately make the pro-player career attractive and a meaningful pursuit. That’s our goal. 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.

We also are striving to make watching esports on your phone a better experience. Right now, esports are not optimized to be watched on small screens despite over 40% of viewers doing so. Building a great mobile watching experience is paramount to Wild Rift because most of the Wild Rift audience have their mobile phones as their primary or only device. That means they will not only play the game but also watch the sport on their phones. If mobile esports is going to transform the industry, then we want to ensure the viewing experience evolves alongside it.

Building a mobile esport is a new venture for us, and there’s a lot to learn. We’re confident we have a strong vision, but it’s important to acknowledge it will take time to get there. We’re just getting started. I look forward to sharing more about our progress with you. In the meantime, keep an eye out for tournaments in your region and more news coming later this year!