Riot Games is porting one of the most popular games ever, League of Legends, to smartphones and consoles with a new take, called League of Legends: Wild Rift. It will make some important changes to the classic MOBA formula, but will still be very much recognizable as the team-based hero battling genre.
The most obvious change is that the map will be modified and controls will be redesigned around using dual sticks, rather than mouse and keyboard inputs. The overall effect on the game will be that it can be finished far faster too, with the average game being completed in just 15-20 minutes, rather than the 30-60 that a typical LoL match lasts.
With the first look videos that Riot released, we can see that the visuals haven't been toned down much, but there has been a major overhaul of the UI. There are now big, thumb-accessible buttons for every ability.
The changes to the game do mean that it won't have all the same champions (at least right out of the gate) as the PC version, as balancing changes will need to be made. That means that you won't earn levels and unlocks on mobile that can carry over to the PC version, although there will be some crossover functionality.
League of Legends: Wild Rift is set to debut at some point in 2020, with limited alphas and betas releasing worldwide in 2019.
Other League of Legends news for the 10th anniversary includes a new cartoon series coming next year, a full release of Teamfight Tactics on mobile, and there's a card game coming too. Because why not?
