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| League of Legends: Wild Rift | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Riot Games |
| Publisher | Riot Games |
| Director | Andrei "Meddler" van Roon[1] |
| Composer | Brendon Williams[2] |
| Series | League of Legends |
| Engine | Unity[3] |
| Platforms | |
| Release | October 27, 2020 |
| Genre | Multiplayer online battle arena |
| Mode | Multiplayer |
League of Legends: Wild Rift (abbreviatedLeague: WR or simplyWild Rift) is afree-to-playmultiplayer online battle arenamobile game developed and published byRiot Games. It was released on October 27, 2020 forAndroid andiOS as a modified version of thePC gameLeague of Legends.
As inLeague of Legends, players control a character ("champion") with unique abilities and battle against a team of players or AI-controlled units, with the goal of destroying the opposing team's "Nexus". EachLeague of Legends: Wild Rift match is discrete, with all champions starting off relatively weak but increasing in strength by accumulatingitems andexperience over the course of the game. Character design is influenced by a variety of genres, includinghigh fantasy,steampunk, andLovecraftian horror.
League of Legends: Wild Rift is amultiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game in thethree-dimensionalisometric perspective.[4] With gameplay similar to theLeague of Legends PC version, the objective of the game is to take down the opposing team's base.[5][6] To be compatible with mobile devices,Wild Rift received some adaptations, making the game's performance rate faster compared to the PC version. Its map has been reduced in size, the respawn time is shorter, the gold gain is greatly accelerated and the regeneration time has been cut in half. Due to this, while on the PC version a match can last regularly 45 minutes, on the mobile version matches last approximately fifteen to twenty minutes.[7][8] There are currently two different modes:Wild Rift (which covers PVP, ranked, and tournament draft) and ARAM.[9]
Each match is played by ten players who are distributed in two teams for a 5v5 confrontation.[5] The players must each select a character, which are called champions by the game. To win the match, teams work together to destroy a structure called the Nexus in the enemy team's base, bypassing a line of defensive structures called turrets.[5] Unlike the PC version ofLeague, Nexus turrets were removed, and the Nexus itself is able to attack target units.[10][11] The mode has a ranked competitive ladder with a matchmaking system determining the player's skill level. There are currently 11 tiers; from least to most skilled, Iron, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Emerald, Diamond, Master, Grandmaster, Challenger, and Sovereign.[12]
In addition to the normal field, present in ranked and PVP mode, there is the ARAM (All Random, All Mid) mode. In this second mode, the number of players is the same as in the normal, 5v5 mode, however, the champions are chosen randomly. Also, the battlefield is reduced, as there is no jungle area nor top and lower route and only mid. Consequently, there is no dragon or baron quest in this mode.[9]
After fully acquiringRiot Games in 2015,Tencent asked them to turnLeague of Legends into a mobile title. However, Riot declined and claimed that the game could not be replicated on smartphones. Tencent then created their own mobile MOBA,Honor of Kings (with its international adaptation known asArena of Valor). The aforementioned games was then reportedly straining their business relationship, and the relationship between the two firms became further strained when Tencent used notableLeague of Legends players to promoteArena of Valor and its esports tournaments.[13]
Riot Games's complaints initiated a two-month marketing freeze forArena of Valor and demands that Riot Games would be given the option to review all marketing plans, including a veto for use of select celebrity gamers.[14] Nonetheless, Riot Games implied that their relationship with Tencent is still strong, and the conflict between them and their games is only "a bump in the road".[15]
Riot Games eventually acknowledged the potential of the mobile market for the MOBA genre, and agreed to develop a mobile title forLeague of Legends. Tencent then temporarily pulled marketing plans forArena of Valor in Europe and North America in 2019, clearing room for Riot Games's announcement ofLeague of Legends: Wild Rift a few months later.[16]
League of Legends: Wild Rift was announced on October 15, 2019, on the 10th anniversary ofLeague of Legends.[17]
League of Legends: Wild Rift was set to be released on October 27, 2020,[18][19] with a limited alpha launch inBrazil andPhilippines in June 2020.[20] Along with the release, a cinematic trailer was posted by the officialLeague of Legends: Wild Rift channel on YouTube.[21]
On September 16, 2020,Wild Rift was released in closed beta inSoutheast Asia viaGoogle Play andApple'sTestFlight, with more regions to be added at a later date.[22][23] On October 8, 2020, the closed beta returned, addingSouth Korea andJapan.[24][25]
The regional open beta for Southeast Asia began on October 27, 2020.[26] On December 7, 2020, the beta was expanded to includeVietnam,Oceania, andTaiwan. On December 10, 2020, the open beta was expanded ahead of schedule to include theCommonwealth of Independent States,Europe,Middle East, andTurkey.[27][28]
The open beta launched in theAmericas on March 29, 2021.[29]
ForChina,Wild Rift has received game approval from China'sNational Press and Publication Administration in early 2021. On October 8, 2021, the game went out of open beta and was officially released byTencent.[30][31]
Riot Games intends to releaseWild Rift on consoles.[32] Executive producer Alan Moore reported that the version was in development, but no updates on the work were provided in 2022.[33]
League of Legends: Wild Rift uses afree-to-play business model. "Skins", used as purely cosmetic customization of champions can be acquired after buying and using anin-game currency called Wild Cores.[34] New skins are debuting in Wild Rift, such as the "Stargazer" skin line, and other standalone skins.[35] A new feature currently exclusive toWild Rift is "champion poses", changing the pose of the selected champion just before the game begins and right after the game ends. These are unlocked through chests in events.[36] Similar to "battle passes", a system called Wild Passes have been introduced as a way to get skins, currency, player icons, emotes, and other cosmetic upgrades. Upon purchasing a pass, players will be given an exclusive skin (the "Hexplorer" skin line), and reaching the maximum level will grant a pose for that exclusive skin. Passes can be leveled up through in-game missions, or buying levels for certain amounts of Wild Cores.[37][38]
| Aggregator | Score |
|---|---|
| Metacritic | 89/100[18] |
| Publication | Score |
|---|---|
| Jeuxvideo.com | 18/20[7] |
| PCMag |   [39] |
League of Legends: Wild Rift was well received by video game critics. On the review aggregator websiteMetacritic, the game received a score of 89 out of 100 based on 7 reviews.[18] Cass Marshall, fromPolygon, saidWild Rift provides "a great alternative for those intimidated by the PC version ofLeague".[5] Jordan Minor fromPCMag gaveWild Rift 4 out of 5 stars and called it "a surprisingly capable mobile edition" ofLeague of Legends. The editor praised the art style of the game and also its capacity to function on weak hardware devices.[39]The Washington Post's Shannon Liao said the game was "a much more beginner-friendly" thanLeague of Legends, but felt that its tutorial could be more comprehensive.[40] Andrew Webster withThe Verge wrote that despite the complexity ofLeague of Legends's gameplay,Wild Rift, in contrast, "does an excellent job of easing in new players by explaining the basics in simple terms".[41]
Regarding game control, while the touchscreen controls used for attacks were praised as "perfectly playable" and "intuitive",[42][39] the virtual joystick utilized for movement was described as "serviceable, but like all virtual joysticks, it can be unresponsive at times".[41] Still about it, Minor wrote that command "don't always keep up with the action".[39]
During the25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominatedLeague of Legends: Wild Rift forMobile Game of the Year.[43] It won the "Innovation" award at theApple Design Awards in 2021.[44]
Wild Rift's player base in the United States has reportedly been "way less toxic" thanLeague of Legends', which Liao andPC Gamer's Steven Messner attributed to the amount of effort required to type on a smartphone.[42] Liao observed that despite some occurrences of bickering she encountered "over taking a role someone else wanted", the game "seems to be injecting new life into a community that has grown pretty insular".[40]
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