Interviewing Jia Tan and Jane Chen, from Riot Games’ Research & Development

Whew, there’s been so many reveals for League of Legend’s 10th anniversary! While you guys process all of that information, we talk to a few figures of the team behind all these reveals. We have Jia Tan and Jane Chen, both from Research & Development. Tan is the Art Director, while Chen is the In-Game Product Lead. Incidentally, Tan grew up in Penang!

As you know, League of Legends will be moving to mobile, under the name League of Legends: Wild Rift. The game will be landing on both mobile and consoles, with mobile getting it first. They can’t confirm which consoles – the Nintendo Switch should prove popular – apart from they’re looking at “everything”.

Wild Rift is “similar yet different”. They have the benefit of building on League‘s rich foundation, but won’t be porting everything directly over. “It’s about taking what players love and know about League of Legends, deconstructing and building that to be a fresh experience,” is what we’re told. They want to be faithful, while also upgrade or update where possible.

Ashe is given as an example, pointing out the updates in her armour. Angler Jax also received a redesign for Wild Rift. This is likened to superhero movies; the superhero themselves may be the same character, but different directors bring their own touch to keep the audience engaged.

You’d probably be curious if all the original skins from League can be ported into Wild Rift. They do want to launch the game, so that’s not going to be possible. They do acknowledge quite a few people would have been playing for 10 years now, and thus accumulated plenty of skins and champions. They want to ensure they respect your investment of time, but no details can be confirmed for now. Quality over quantity is being pressed, so things won’t just be slapped in just because they can. “We’re trying to be very considerate in how we bring out the best quality,” is the motto for the day, especially concerning the champion turntable unique to Wild Rift. You can be assured the team will be doing their best to have the game be the best representation of PC League as possible.

The duo Tan and Chen are primarily working on Wild Rift, so they can’t comment too much on PC League. They can say that the elemental dragons will still be present, at least. While they keep up with the changes the PC version gets, it’ll still be their call to decide what, or when, to bring something over to Wild Rift. In a somewhat related vein, they do want to get the game playable by as many people as possible, but crossplay cannot be confirmed at present either. They’ll need more time, and asks you to look out for it in the future.

That said, Wild Rift is most definitely not launching with the full roster, starting out with around 40 champions. As it is, there’s a backlog for them to work through from the PC lineup, and they’ll be gradually working in some of the best features or champions. Wild Rift will also have unique content or features, and both versions of League can coexist and be the best versions of themselves.

Bringing up Ashe again, they point out her ultimate’s arrow curves. It makes sense in Wild Rift, but not necessarily on PC. Draven is cited as easier to control in Wild Rift, with help from the twin stick controls. Vice versa, champions may work much better on PC and not for Wild Rift, and again, the quality control will be in place. The champions won’t necessarily have different skill sets, but they will be tweaked accordingly, while still keeping the “feel” of the champion. These changes can either be more subtle, or obvious.

As is, champions were made with the PC in mind first, using mouse and keyboard. Champions will see the aforementioned tweaks to have them fit on another platform. Wild Rift exclusive champions are still being figured out, but they’d like to have a new champion that can be used across platforms, not exclusively to one. Wild Rift is still ultimately part of the ecosystem, and focusing on the champions in the backlog would take priority. People, after all, have been used to these champions and would be expecting them.

You can consider Wild Rift as a sort-of multiple universe. To wit, there’ll be honey fruits for Wild Rift that aren’t in PC League. They stress they will not be making a one-on-one port, and asks players to look forward to things they are exploring for a unique experience in the game. You can expect other game modes to be worked on, with careful consideration of how they function in the game itself.

Mobile games often see collaborations with other IPs, and they’re open to exploring other opportunities to create richer experiences that encompasses multiple products. They won’t be able to confirm anything right now, but they hope it’ll be exciting for players in the coming times.

When asked about League of Legends in the next 10 years, they’re not really sure. It of course would be nice that people continue to enjoy the game, the esports, and their children be watching and playing too, and find a connection through their favourite champions. It isn’t JUST a PC MOBA game. It’s capable of crossing international borders, with plenty of coordinated effort from all parties involved. There’s trailers, CGs, new properties coming up, and all these could mature in the years to come. It would be nice to see the IP be a name like Disney or Marvel, providing a comprehensive experience to fans. Who knows what League 20 would look like?

Should you wish to break into the world at large, the advice is to be open-minded. The world is plenty global thanks to the internet, so there’s plenty of ways to navigate into your dream position. Don’t feel limited by where you are, what you do, or the conditions you find yourselves in. Hard work and passion can bring you far, so keep at it and let your future unfold.

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