Riot Games will shut down official Wild Rift leagues beyond Asia in 2023 — recalling their popularity
League of Legends: Wild Rift, the official mobile version of League of Legends, was released worldwide at the end of 2020. The discipline launched various tournaments almost immediately, but the first esports season with regional leagues and the final world championship was launched only in 2022. And now, one year later, Wild Rift esports will remain official only in Asia.
John Needham, the president of esports at Riot Games, in a recent press release announced that starting from 2023 the company stops supporting Wild Rift esports in all regions except Asia. At the same time, he said that third-party tournament operators will be able to hold Wild Rift championships in North America, Brazil and Europe.
Brazil and North America, where many Wild Rift tournaments drew more than 20K Peak Viewers, will be affected the most by the Riot Games' decision. For example, North America Series 2022 Season 1 Major 3 and Wild Tour 2022 Season 1 ranked among the Top 4 tournaments of the year in the discipline. At the same time, Wild Rift esports was the least popular in Europe. Only Wild Rift Origin Series 2021 Championship attracted nearly 20K Peak Viewers, while other championships by Riot Games in the region did not draw even 10K PV.
Most popular official Wild Rift esports tournaments in Europe
Riot Games decided to focus on the development of Wild Rift esports in Asia for a reason. In this region, mobile disciplines are the most popular. We should remind you that Free Fire World Series 2021 Singapore, watched by more than 5.4 million Peak Viewers, is held there. And the Wild Rift tournaments drew the largest audience in Asia.
For example, last summer's Icons Global Championship 2022 attracted more than 54K PV — the second highest result in the history of Wild Rift esports. Only Horizon Cup 2021, also held in Asia, attracted more Peak Viewers (62.9K). English-language broadcasts attract most of the audience of these tournaments, but Vietnamese, Korean and other Asian languages are also in the Top.
Riot Games' focus on Asia could lead to Wild Rift esports in other regions simply ceasing to exist, and being completely replaced by analogues like Honor of Kings and ML:BB. Otherwise independent tournament operators (ESL, Esportsmaker and others) will take over the Wild Rift tournament niche and run their own leagues.
Detailed Esports data at your fingertips.
Subscribe to & start exploring!
