League of Legends hasn’t been released on mobile devices in China yet, but some ambitious esports plans for the MOBA game are already in store.
While the game is called Wild Rift around the world, it’s simply referred to as League of Legends Mobile in the Asian country. It was approved by China’s National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) last February but an official release date hasn’t been revealed yet. It’s being published by Tencent and is currently being tested, with the latest one being conducted from July 20 onwards.
Last month, TJ Sports, a joint venture by Tencent and Riot Games which is responsible for conducting the LPL, revealed the esports plans for League of Legends Mobile in China.
There will be three separate “tracks” for the game’s esports scene in the country leading to a professional esports league. These are the national competition, LPL track, and influencer track.
As a part of the LPL track, 16 teams from the LPL will compete in League Mobile for five slots to the professional esports league later this year. While the LPL has 17 teams, Suning won’t be competing in League Mobile. Dot Esports wasn’t able to verify the reason behind this.
The first competition for League Mobile in China will be the Super Burning Warm-up tournament (translated from Mandarin) on July 26 and 27. The results of this competition will be linked to the grouping for the official LPL track, which will begin in September.
The 16 LPL orgs competing in League Mobile are BiliBili Gaming, Edward Gaming, FunPlus Phoenix, Invictus Gaming, JD Gaming, LGD Gaming, LNG Esports, Oh My God, Rare Atom, Rogue Warriors, Royal Never Give Up, Team WE, ThunderTalk Gaming, Top Esports, Ultra Prime, and Victory Five.
The top teams from the LPL track will also qualify for the Wild Rift World Championship 2021, which will be held towards the end of the year.
In the national competition channel, 32 “non-LPL” teams will compete for six slots in the professional league. Finally, the influencer channel will see six “influencers” forming teams and locking horns in League Mobile, with one of them making it to the professional league. An esports documentary featuring these six influencers will also be created as they form teams and vie for a spot in the league. This entire circuit will run from August 2021 to January 2022.
TJ Sports is committed to creating a large esports ecosystem for League Mobile in China. The company has said that it will be leveraging over 10 years of experience in the development of League of Legends esports with the mobile game. It has also partnered with Chinese dairy brand Momchilovtsi and smartphone brand OPPO for League Mobile esports in China.