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'League of Legends' championship will start in Shanghai despite pandemic
Riot is moving forward with an in-person 'League of Legends' World Championship 2020 in Shanghai, even with COVID-19 remaining a threat.
Riot ends Saudi Arabian esports deal following backlash
One of the biggest esports leagues in Europe has quickly reversed its decision to enter a sponsorship agreement with Neom, a divisive smart city project in Saudi Arabia, following widespread backlash from its own commentators and fans. Riot Games, the company behind League of Legends and the owner of the professional LEC championship in Europe, confirmed the decision in a blog post. “After further reflection, while we remain steadfastly committed to all of our players and fans worldwide including those living in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, the LEC has ended its partnership with Neom, effective immediately,” Alberto Guerrero, Riot Games’ Director of Esports for the EMEA region said.
Here's what the next 10 years of LoL Esports will look like
Riot Games is rolling out a new homepage for LoL Esports with a global focus.
As 'League of Legends' summer games begin, the pros talk player health
"I hope other people are not ashamed to see a therapist," Søren “Bjergsen" Bjerg said.
'League of Legends' TV show 'Arcane' has been pushed back to 2021
You'll have to wait a bit longer for Riot's first animated series.
'Valorant' 1.0 launch adds a new character, game mode and map
Riot's new game is about to launch, and unlike 'League of Legends,' 'Valorant is a 5v5 team-based first person shooter. The v1.0 patch notes detail everything players can expect.
Watch Riot's 'League of Legends: Wild Rift' gameplay reveal here at 11AM ET
Follow along with Engadget as we watch Riot showcase the first gameplay from the upcoming mobile and console version of 'League of Legends.'
Valorant's wild success on Twitch wasn't an accident
For Valorant’s Twitch debut, Riot Games partnered with “multiple hundreds” of influencers from around the globe. None of them were paid.
'League of Legends' mid-season tournament canceled due to COVID-19
Riot delayed the Mid-Season Invitational from May to July in a bid to keep it on this year's schedule.
Riot buys the makers of a combat-heavy 'Minecraft' clone
League of Legends and Valorant developer Riot Games just shared its next big bet. On Thursday, the company said it had acquired Hypixel Studios, the creator of an upcoming role-playing game called Hytale. The company says Hypixel will retain its current structure, with plans to open a new office in Northern Ireland that will host additional back-office and quality assurance staff.
'Valorant' is just the start of a massive year for Riot Games
Riot is launching multiple games this year, including Legends of Runeterra and Wild Rift.
ESPN will broadcast and stream 'League of Legends' spring playoffs
ESPN is diving deeper into live esports with League of Legends Championship Series broadcasts.
Social distancing is pushing esports into the mainstream
Industries around the globe have ground to a halt amid the coronavirus pandemic. Bars, restaurants, stadiums and factories have shuttered, and entire countries are on lockdown as citizens are ordered to stay home for weeks at a time in an attempt to control the disease's spread. With the streets empty, people are turning to their screens more than ever before. Viewership of streaming services like Netflix, YouTube, Twitch, Mixer and Hulu has risen weekly since shelter-in-place orders began rolling out, and people are on the hunt for new forms of entertainment, ideally with a social twist. Something with a chat room, or dozens of forum posts to read through, or an active Twitter and Instagram presence. Something with stats and high stakes. Something live. Enter: Esports. As economic activity spirals downward around the world, the esports industry has been spun into overdrive. Leagues are ditching plans for in-person tournaments and pivoting to online-only matches, where they're finding a hungry audience.
'League of Legends' auto chess comes to mobile on March 19th
Riot Games is almost ready to launch its first-ever mobile game. Today, the developer announced that Teamfight Tactics, a League of Legends mode inspired by Dota 2's popular auto chess mod, will be coming to iOS and Android devices on March 19th. The mobile version will be free-to-play and crossplay compatible with the existing PC community. It will also ship with a brand-new tutorial, ranked play, and the space-themed Galaxies expansion announced last month. That includes the free Galaxy Pass and premium Galaxy Pass+ — a take on Fortnite's Battle Pass that, for a limited time, allows players to unlock special cosmetics with experience points.
How Riot Games' new team plans to curb trolling before it begins
Riot Games doesn't use the word "toxic." "Toxicity means different things to different people," Riot's head of Player Dynamics Weszt Hart said. "What's trash talk to one person is totally inappropriate to someone else, which makes it really hard to proactively design a solution. 'Toxic' is so subjective, we failed to see how it was blinding us to the possibilities."
The esports elders defying their age
For most people, the phrase 'esports athlete' conjures an image of a teenager or twenty-something hunched over a keyboard, controller or fighting stick. That generalization holds some weight: tune into the next Overwatch League fixture, for instance, and you'll see few competitors in their forties. In almost every esport, though, there's at least one player that bucks the norm; a slightly older professional that can easily compete with and, frequently, overcome their younger foe. Like Roger Federer, a 38-year-old tennis legend that still ranks in the world top five, these people seem to defy their age and the notion that only the young have the mental and physical agility required to compete at the highest level. None of them are truly old, of course. Not to the average person on the street, anyway. Inside their respective gaming communities, however, they're old-timers, veterans, part of the 'I can't believe they haven't retired yet' club. Collectively, you could think of them as the esports elders.
Professional 'League of Legends' is trying to work around the coronavirus
A little more than a month ago, one of the biggest esports leagues in the world -- the League of Legends Pro League (LPL) in China -- was forced to go on hiatus due to the coronavirus outbreak. Understandably, all matches were postponed and the English commentary team flew back to their respective home nations. So what now? Well, today the LPL announced that the 2020 Spring Split will resume on March 9th with an online-only format. "Players will be attending matches from their club headquarters," the league's organisers explained in a tweet. "The only exception are players in quarantined provinces who are currently unable to leave."
Twitch built a tool to help new players understand 'League of Legends'
Jumping into a game like League of Legends is not for the faint of heart. Between a notoriously toxic community and the almost endless complexity of the game itself, there are a lot of hurdles new players have to conquer before they can start enjoying the MOBA. But Twitch hopes it can help solve at least the latter problem with a new extension that details the state of a match at any time. The hope is that the tool will both make the game easier to learn, as well as foster more interaction between streamers and viewers.
Now 'League of Legends' star Faker is a part-owner of his esports team
Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok has been an esports superstar and key member of the T1 League of Legends team since 2013, and a new three-year contract with the squad adds "part owner" to his title. As first reported by ESPN, while the talented mid laner has said he received "blank check" offers from teams outside of South Korea, the 23-year-old will remain with the only pro team he's ever known. The three year deal is the longest contract allowed under League maker Riot's rules, and according to T1, "Faker will assume a leadership role within the organization after his playing career and will help facilitate global operations." CEO Joe Marsh said in the accompanying statement that "Since T1's inception, Faker has been the cornerstone of our team's success and his undying passion for this organization will continue to drive us forward now that he is a part owner of T1 Entertainment & Sports. Even after Faker's retirement – whenever that may be – he will begin the next chapter of his legacy in a leadership role with T1, helping to mold the next generation of elite esports athletes."
California says Riot Games' discrimination settlement isn't enough
Riot Games' tentative $10 million settlement over gender discrimination claims might be revised much higher. The LA Times has learned that California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) have requested to get involved the case and argue that the settlement terms are inadequate. DFEH contended that women at the League of Legends studio could be owed "over $400 million" in back pay based on the settlement's existing calculations, and that the non-financial agreements included "no enforceable changes" in policy at a company where sexism was reportedly widespread.