According to rumors, Riot and Tencent are jointly developing a Mobile version of League of Legends for iOS and Android. Now, the first screenshots and videos of this LoL Mobile have been leaked. They look quite real.
Where do these images and videos come from? They come from a Facebook page, a public group for LoL Mobile.
A “Ry Enriquez” uploaded them and said: These are “Leaked Videos and Images.” The page is getting a lot of likes.
What can be seen in the videos?? Playable champions are Garen, Vayne, Jinx, Fizz, Xin Zhao, Oriana, Janna, Lux, Annie, Nami, Gragas, Ahri, Twisted Fate, Olaf, Shyvana, Tryndamere, Vi, Malphite, Nasus, Miss Fortune, Ezreal, Master Yi, Jax, Fiora, Blitzcrank, Soraka, Dr. Mundo, and Ashe.
These are 27 of the 144 champs from the full version.
The video apparently shows some kind of tutorial, so the balance is not yet clear.
The control scheme is the “typical mobile” control style from Asian mobile RPGs. In the lower right corner are the skills, which are controlled with the right thumb, while the left hand controls the champion via a touch pad.
In the upper left corner is a mini-map. The actual action takes place centrally and more towards the right of the mobile device’s screen.
LoL Mobile – not confirmed, but very likely
Does this make sense? Yes, it makes a lot of sense. It is not officially confirmed that Riot Games is developing a “LoL Mobile,” but there is a lot of evidence supporting it, and sources have reported that a mobile version of LoL is in development. This follows a backstory between the US company Riot Games and its Chinese owners, Tencent Games.
Because Riot actually wants to develop for PC, but Tencent is pushing for the mobile version, as mobile games are performing extremely well in China:
- The Chinese publisher Tencent has long wanted a mobile LoL from Riot.
- However, they allegedly refused, claiming it wouldn’t work. One cannot carry over the LoL experience to mobile.
- Then Tencent developed “Honor of Kings,” a mobile clone of LoL that became incredibly successful in China.
- That was then supposed to come to the West as Arena of Valor – but Riot was apparently uncomfortable with that, feeling pressured.
- Now Tencent has reportedly shelved “Arena of Valor” in the West, which was never a hit anyway. Allegedly, Riot is now developing LoL Mobile. A release is rumored to be expected no earlier than 2020.
However, this is mostly based on sources from the news agency Reuters. They remain unconfirmed, but explain very well what might be happening between Riot and Tencent, between League of Legends and Arena of Valor.
