Image provided by Riot Games
Riot Games dropped an absolutely massive stream to celebrate the company and League of Legends turning 10. While speculation was high on what Riot might announce. And while most predictions were technically true, no one expected the deluge of announcements and new game reveals that Riot dropped. So here’s a break down of all the reveals and updates from the stream.
Changes To Summoner’s Rift
Image/Riot Games
The main gameplay mode for League has changed a bit over the years, but starting in October Summoner’s Rift is becoming even more malleable. The biggest change coming to the map is the increased value of dragon buffs. While still buffing your team, each dragon will now change the map itself. Downing an Infernal Dragon will burn away brush you usually hide in and make new paths, taking a Cloud Drake will create wind tunnels that increase movement speeds. This is going to add a whole new layer of strategy to the game, where prioritizing drakes can literally change the landscape in your favor.
Image/Riot Games
Also, Riot announced the new champion, Senna. She’s a support marksman, the first of that kind of character in the game. She could end up having a very high ceiling if her healing/shields are dependent on skill shots.
TFT Mobile, LoL Wild Rift & Legends of Runeterra
Riot fans knew that a mobile version of League would be coming at some point. There were enough leaks and speculation to make the announcement of LoL Wild Rift sort of ho-hum. In a very intelligent move Wild Rift will not be a port of the PC version of the game. Instead, it was built from the ground up with a “dual-stick” control system. It won’t have the full roster at the start, but it will include an Overwatch style gallery where players can see all the emotes and skins on the models before buying. All the champions were redesigned specifically for this game. Oh, and its coming to console too.
Image/Riot Games
While Wild Rift may not have been a surprise Teamfight Tactics Mobile was. Even thought there were rumblings of both, it seemed to be a zero-sum situation. We would either get TFT Mobile or League Mobile and conventional wisdom would have pointed to Wild Rift. However, Riot said that both would be releasing in 2020.
They also announced the now-available “Legends of Runeterra”. LoR is a card game looking to directly compete against Hearthstone.
Brand New Titles
Here is where Riot really threw the gauntlet down. At the very least, we knew since the summer that Riot was developing a fighting game. But we had no idea just how much they had been working on over the past few years. Now known as “Project L”, we got a VERY brief glimpse of what vision Riot has for the 2-D fighting game space.
However, the most surprising reveal was that of “Project A”. A new-IP tactical shooter that seems to be blending CS:Go, Overwatch. No one expected Riot to develop a shooter. But with their experience in the esports space it would have been hard for them to ignore the success both the aforementioned titles are currently enjoying. More than anything these two titles feel like a passion projects, but if Riot is good at anything its making the most of its brands. And if these two games come out with any fanfare expect professional scenes to grow around them quickly.
Lastly, there were some very brief cuts of a Diablo style dungeon crawler using the LoL-IP. And the reveal of “Esports Manager” throwing you into the seat of an esports franchise owner. They didn’t spend much time on it but it was for sure the most random game announcement of the bunch. Esports Manager is launching in China first in 2020 then the rest of the world.
LoL Arcane
Perhaps the most exciting announcement of them all was the reveal of “Arcane”, an animated series that looks to be set in Piltover. Yet another move looking to eek an advantage over Blizzard, that has yet to announce any plans for an Overwatch animated series. It remains to be seen if its any good, but the art style looks refreshing and a new exploration into the lore of LoL is something fans have demanded for years.
In a matter of an hour and change, Riot has gone from a one game studio to a direct competitor to studios like Bilzzard and Valve. Not just in the esports space, but in the gaming. Period. Its been a while since we seen one stream that contained so much info. In the coming months we’ll be following the development of these new titles as well as how the changes on the Rift have affected League proper.
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