Riot: "We want to excite aspiring professional players"

On Saturday, July 9, the finals of the first League of Legends: Wild Rift Icons World Championship were held in Singapore. The title for mobile devices by Riot Games had to hastily change the venue of the finals that were to be held in Madrid, taking the event to Singapore due to health restrictions resulting from the pandemic. Despite this, nothing prevented the Spanish Team Queso from playing their heart out in the competition, despite the Nova eSports team finally emerging victorious, beating the Taiwanese J Team 4-0 in the final.

Just before the final match of the Icons 2022 World Championship took place, the global head of esports at Wild Rift Leo Faria gave a few words to Gamereactor about its celebration in the Asian city and what it has meant for the future of the title and the players. "We're very happy to be able to hold the first edition of the Icons in Singapore - I can't wait to see our fans' reactions to the finals!"

When we told him that both EMEA esports head Hans Christian Duerr and EMEA winner Team Queso admitted in Barcelona that opposition from Asian teams would be "fierce", it seems it was no great surprise that both finalists came out of the continent. "With two WRL teams in the final, we are seeing that Asia's dominance is undisputed" admitted Faria, "I attribute this to the popularity of mobile gaming and esports that has already been established in Asian regions, but I look forward to seeing other regions emerge as the sport continues to grow."

Already looking to the future, we asked Faria about what the next step is in Wild Rift's competitive scene, specifically whether he was enticed by the idea of in-game national leagues, to which he commented that "We are focused on developing the infrastructure necessary to deliver the high-quality Riot experience that our community and our fans have come to expect from us. We will also look to continue our efforts in exciting players who aspire to become professional Wild Rift Esports athletes, and working with top-tier organisations to create a sustainable ecosystem for everyone involved in Wild Rift Esports."