Riot Games Scales Back Wild Rift Esports Ambitions Outside of Asia

Riot Games has announced a strategic shift in its Wild Rift Esports strategy, focusing primarily on the Asian market from 2023 onwards. This decision marks a significant change in the company's approach, as it had initially launched Wild Rift Esports globally. According to John Needham, Riot's president of esports, the move is driven by Asia's position as the world's largest and most vibrant mobile esports market. The new Wild Rift league in Asia, set to launch in April 2023, will be the first cross-regional professional mobile esports league and will feature 12 teams from China's Wild Rift League and eight teams from other Asian countries. Although Riot will not directly manage Wild Rift esports leagues outside of Asia, it will allow third-party organizers to host events, potentially paving the way for continued competition in other regions. This development follows the successful launch of Wild Rift in China in October 2020, in partnership with Tencent, and the game's subsequent open beta release in other territories. As of September 2022, Wild Rift has generated over $750 million in player spending worldwide.