FOR WILD Rift, it's all about the long game.
“Much like League of Legends, with Wild Rift we have made a long-term commitment to the mobile community. We aren’t just doing this because mobile is hot right now or we are taking a short-term opportunity with it," said Leo Faria, Riot Games' head of global esports, in an interview with Spin.ph as the Icons Global Championship got underway at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
"We have a very core philosophy at Riot Games which is we are a game company and not just a PC game company, so we’re gonna go with the players are and that’s mobile and we’re committed to bringing great games period. It will be hard but I’m happy to say that all across Riot there is that long-term commitment for mobile moving forward.”
With RRQ PH being swept out of the quarterfinals by Chinese team FunPlus Phoenix, the Philippines has no homegrown team in the world series right now. But Faria still gave a hat tip to the gritty team.
"RRQ was also a delight to watch in and out of game," he said. "They are such interesting and fun personalities. Helios [Sean Miranda Palisoc] and Marky [Marc Ilagan] are so funny. They have to be so proud of their achievements at Icons 2022.”
RRQ aren't the only Pinoy talent that Faria praised. Both Mika "MikaFabs" Fabella and Rikki "Riku" Quiapon have left a good impression in Icons.
Faria continued, “Filipinos produced two great talents in Riku and Mika…or Miku and Rika. Thank you Rafa for confusing all of us. But I think it’s truly awesome that they are part of the global scene. They are both amazing and make any broadcast better."
Filipinos in Wild Rift
With Filipino agent Neon part of the roster in Riot's FPS Valorant, would there be any Pinoy-themed skins for Wild Rift champions in the future?
“The big difference between Valorant and Wild Rift as an IP is the setting, right?Valorant exists in the real world so we can go for a highly resonant and explicit execution like with Neon, while Wild Rift and League of Legends exists in Runeterra," replied Faria.
"So we’ll probably never see a Filipino, a Brazilian, or an Italian champion or skin. But we could have a skin lines or champions inspired or gives a nod to a particular culture. But I’m not really in a purview to say anything further.”
But while he won't speak on skins, he was ebullient about Wild Rift's long-term outlook.
“Mobile gaming is not huge in North America or Europe. In Southeast Asia and China mobile is widely accepted. So we definitely want Wild Rift to become available on different platforms," he said.
"So when Wild Rift becomes available on console for example, we think it would expose the game to a whole new audience. The goal is still for Wild Rift to become a global esport.”
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