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Riot Announces Wild Rift Esports Tournament, Set to Take Place in Late 2021

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Buckle up, League of Legends: Wild Rift esports fans. The start of genuine competition revolving around Riot Games’ recent mobile MOBA game is set to begin.

During a virtual preview event held in front of 300 media members that preluded the start of the Mid-Season Invitational, Riot Games announced that a global tournament will take place in late 2021.

As the announcement suggests, the event will pit teams from various parts of the world that decide the best team among them within the game. Altogether, the event will be in the same breath as its League of Legends and VALORANT counterparts which boast their own international competitions like the Mid-Season Invitational, World Championship, and VALORANT Champions Tour.

Although Riot hasn’t been able to cover more of the closer tangibles regarding the event, they did disclose that the global esports event will take place most likely in the fall.

“To top off 2021 for Wild Rift Esports, regional teams will qualify for our first-ever WIld Rift global tournament. While we haven’t nailed down all the specifics, Riot is committed to a global Wild Rift Esports event in the fourth quarter of the year.”

John Needham, Global Head of Esports at Riot Games

Though the game’s popularity has been gradually increasing since its launch in North America in March 2021, creating its own community in the community, the announcement still came as a shock since virtually no prominent esports tournaments have been done as a result of its still-nascent life span.

Wild Rift esports
Credit: Riot Games

Nevertheless, Riot executives believe in Wild Rift’s growth in popularity in the esports spectrum, which has been made prevalent with this announcement. Not only that, in scheduling Wild Rift’s climaxing event, Riot can set the trend of formalizing an esports scene for mobile games altogether, a venture that hasn’t been touched upon before.

In February 2021, Riot commenced the Southeast Asia Icon Series, a five-week-long event that was played in multiple parts of the region and featured 54 professional teams. More importantly, it was the first Riot-sponsored Wild Rift event in the world.

Riot’s executives, most specifically Leo Faria, the Global Head of Wild Rift Esports, holds a clear belief that a burgeoning professional ecosystem of the game will continue to grow later on in the year and inevitably reach an exclamation point with their global tournament.

“We’ve seen a great number of esports organizations around the world announcing their Wild Rift teams. In Southeast Asia, for example, organizations like The Alliance, RRQ, and LoL Esports veterans Flash Wolves all announced Wild Rift rosters. As we kick things off in the rest of the world, we expect to see some of the biggest names in esports also announcing their own Wild Rift rosters.”

Leo Faria, Global Head of Wild Rift Esports

More information regarding the event, including a regional competition schedule and third-party tournament guidelines, will be revealed later this year.

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AUTHOR

Pedro has been a contributing esports writer for Gamezo since the fall of 2020. He is exceedingly passionate in hobbies such as reading, writing, watching sports, and, of course, playing video games.