A mobile version of Riot Games‘ League of Legends is supposedly in development, according to a new report from Reuters. The outlet cited several sources who are said to be familiar with the matter in a report which stated Riot Games and its parent company Tencent Holdings are working together to create the mobile version of the hit MOBA. League of Legends is currently only available on the PC platform, so the move to mobile devices would be a first in the game’s history.
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In the report from Reuters, it was said that the mobile version of League of Legends that’s reportedly being developed has been in the works for over a year. No release timeframe for such a game was provided, but it’s not expected to release in 2019, according to the report.
Reuters’ sources also addressed reports of tensions between Riot and Tencent that first surfaced last year in a report from The Information. The site had suggested that the two companies were clashing over different areas and said part of these frustrations stemmed from Tencent’s desire to develop a mobile League of Legends game. The initial report said Riot turned down an offer to make a mobile version, and one of Reuters’ sources said Riot did indeed reject a proposal.
Tencent did launch its own mobile MOBA that resembled League which was called Honour of Kings and was a hit in China. This reportedly caused more frustrations between the two companies, though when Tencent’s game was adapted and renamed to be Arena of Valor and released in the West, it failed to have the same impact there.
Big games and series like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Fortnite, and the Call of Duty series often move to mobile platforms to capitalize on that market, so it wouldn’t be too surprising to see League do the same, assuming these reports are accurate. Riot is known to be working on more than one new game, and a mobile title has been among the theories from players that include other ideas like a fighting game or an MMO.
Speculation about a mobile version of League rose back when Riot released its Nexus Blitz game mode with a map that looked like it might fit a mobile format. A spokesperson from Riot told us around the time Nexus Blitz was revealed that the map wasn’t a mobile prototype or testing ground and was just an experimentation for a possibly permanent game mode, though Nexus Blitz was eventually relegated to a mode which may only return during certain events.
We’ve reached out to Riot Games for comment and will update accordingly if a statement is provided.
