At the start of Season 10, League of Legends released a new cinematic. This gives viewers goosebumps, and fans are celebrating Riot for the video. But it’s not just the trailer that draws comparisons with Blizzard.
What kind of cinematic is this? In LoL, the new season starts on January 10, and to herald this and upcoming innovations, Riot Games has released a new cinematic.
It features various champions involved in battles:
- Lux and Garen fight against Sylas. A battle in which Galio also intervenes later. Sylas himself is leading a revolt in Demacia and, according to the latest lore, will join the Freljord.
- Caitlyn and Vi encounter Urgot.
- Ezreal and Kai’Sa fight together against a horde of Voidlings.
In each duel, there is a faction that initially loses but continually fights to regain the upper hand. In the end, as in the other trailers, there are no winners, only fighters.
What makes the trailer so special? In terms of content, the trailer for the new year 2020 doesn’t offer any announcements. Instead, it impresses with:
- Amazing visuals
- Great cinematic representation
- A connection to the lore
- An epic soundtrack
The song in the background is Warriors by Imagine Dragons, who also performed at Worlds 2014. However, this version is a remix produced by 2WEI and sung by Edda Hayes.
Fans celebrate cinematic and Riot Games
How is the trailer received? Just hours after its release, the trailer already has half a million views and 280,000 likes. How accurate these numbers are is hard to estimate, as YouTube only updates data for new videos in waves.
However, the comments under the video and on reddit are very positive:
- WigO: “These visuals and effects were absolutely stunning, holy shit, congratulations Riot and Blur Studio.”
- SedOfAstora: “This is by far the best cinematic they’ve made in years, maybe even the best ever. I’m not an expert, but this cinematic isn’t a ‘Cool, check this out.’ It’s more like, ‘Oh my god, I want to play this game more.'”
- Dearche: “I love it when the beat of the music syncs with the content of the trailer, like when Vi punches someone.”
- Austin Goggans: “Beautiful, just like Blizzard, Riot knows how to make cinematics.”
Cinematic like Blizzard: For years, especially Riot Games and Blizzard have repeatedly created epic cinematics that are celebrated by fans.
However, in recent years, Blizzard’s reputation in the gaming community has diminished:
- There was a lot of criticism for the announcement and handling of Diablo Immortal at BlizzCon 2018. The question “Don’t you guys have phones?” became a meme that still appears today.
- In early 2019, over 800 employees were laid off at Activision Blizzard.
- The philosophy surrounding mounts for purchase in WoW was criticized.
- The scandal around Blitzchung and Hong Kong also attracted a lot of criticism.
Instead, Riot Games is now celebrated as the “new Blizzard.” For its 10th anniversary, the game company announced 6 new games, including the card game Legends of Runeterra and an MMO shooter.
New games have to convince first
What’s next for Riot in 2020? For Riot Games, it is now essential to prove that they can do more than just lead a game to success. League of Legends is a long-lasting success and was among the top-grossing games in the world in 2019.
Whether the new games will impress remains to be seen. The teaser video for 2020 announced new LoL champions and updates, innovations for TFT, and another testing phase for Legends of Runeterra.
In 2020, TFT-Mobile and LoL-Mobile are also set to be released. An exciting year, during which Riot Games aims to offer more than just LoL.
Not everything around LoL is always positive. The behavior of the players is difficult, as our author Philipp has experienced:
