In an online press conference this morning, Riot Games announced its new heads for in Asia-Pacific and unveiled their plans for this side of the world. In order to focus on hyperlocal publishing, they will be establishing new offices in India, the Philippines, Indonesia/Malaysia and Thailand! Riot Games was previously running SEA out of its Singapore hub office and Japan, and this move will see the company doubling down on its efforts to grow in the region.
In charge of this expansion will be Alex Kraynov, the former Managing Director of Emerging Markets (SEA, India, Latin America, Brazil, Middle East, North Africa, and Japan) and now Managing Director of APAC. He said, “This is a natural step in progression for our publishing business in Southeast Asia, and Riot recognizes that APAC has the potential to become the biggest region in the world for Riot. This region is intricately diverse, with massive gaming communities that have diverse needs and a strong appetite for mobile gaming. In the past few years, our offices in Singapore and Japan have worked hard to release several new games and have nurtured new esports leagues to excite and delight players. Working towards more physical presences in our key APAC markets, we’re extremely excited to double down on these efforts to continue striving towards being the most player-focused gaming company in the world.”
Assisting him in APAC will be the following leaders:
This leadership team will continue to grow from 2022 and beyond, with a Country Manager of Thailand, Country Manager of India, and a Head of Regional Tech to be appointed. The reorganization will see a diversification of Riot's operating model, with Publishing at the forefront, alongside its other business pillars of Games, Entertainment, Esports and Enterprise. Great news for fans of Riot Games, and people who are looking to work for the company - they will be hiring staff for their brand new offices. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled!
The inaugural Valorant Champions tournament may end this weekend, but it looks like Riot Games has already planned out the upcoming year. The company announced today its plans for the competitive Valorant scene in 2022 and here's how it's looking:
It looks like 2022 is going to be tighter in terms of scheduling - after the conclusion of Valorant Champions this weekend, there's going to be a long break until February 2022, where Valorant Challengers will begin. This is the regional league meant to determine the best teams in their respective zones, and those on top will meet teams from other areas at the Valorant Masters in April. The next Challengers and Masters will then take place from May to July, for more teams to qualify to Champions. In August, there will be Last Chance Qualifiers again, followed by Champions to conclude the season in September.
From October till December, there will be more "fun" tournaments like the Ignition series for players to have some time off and experiment, as well as for the game to be promoted and embraced by influencers and the community. Game Changers will also return to help promote the growth of females in the esports scene. A nice way to wind down the hyper-competitive Season since there are no breaks in the earlier months.
More details will arrive in the coming weeks, but this schedule should be a good foundation for organizations and Valorant teams to plan out their 2022. Valorant Champions 2021 concludes this weekend, make sure you don't miss out on the action, live on eGG Network TV!
After the gruelling group stages of the Wild Rift SEA Championship, we now have the final eight teams competing in the Playoffs this weekend. Watching the games, it's no surprise that the teams present deserve to be here, with the biggest surprise being Buriram United since they wouldn't have made it after being eliminated from the Play-ins. Thanks to Azure Esports dropping out, the Thai squad got an extra chance to fight for a spot and they sure did. During the group stages, they only lost one match to Team Secret and 2-0'd everyone else in Group A. SVP and Team Flash were eliminated and will not be at the playoffs.
For Group B, SBTC Esports topped the group, followed closely by Divine Esports and EVOS Esports TH. Unfortunately for Singapore and Malaysian Wild Rift fans, Alliance and Geek Fam were eliminated after failing to claim a single match win during the group stages - they won't be present this weekend.
Here's what the brackets look like:
The teams will be competing for the lion's share of the USD 200,000 prize pool and most importantly, an invitation to the Horizon Cup which will go to the top two teams.
The final day (3rd October) will also feature the K-pop group, aespa, performing at the opening ceremony! Make sure you tune in if you're a MY (마이) or would like to watch them perform. With how much Riot Games is pushing out music content for its games, it was only a matter of time before we saw K-pop in Wild Rift.
The Wild Rift SEA Championship will take place from Thursday, 30 September, 1 PM until 3rd October, and will be broadcasted live on eGG Network TV, as well as the following platforms:
English:
Bahasa Malaysia:
As usual, stay tuned to eGG Network for more news and updates on Wild Rift.
After giving us a sneak preview of their upcoming animated series back in May, Riot Games/Netflix have released the official trailer for Arcane, and boy does it look jaw-droppingly amazing! Check it out here:
In addition to the official trailer, we have a release date for Arcane - 6th November, shortly after the grand finals of League of Legends Worlds 2021! If you think you didn't have enough LoL content to keep you occupied in November, this should rectify that.
Based on the world behind League of Legends, Arcane dives into the delicate balance between the rich city of Piltover and the seedy underbelly of Zaun. Known across Runeterra as the “city of progress,” many of the most brilliant minds call these cities home. But the creation of hextech, a way for any person to control magical energy, threatens that balance. While Arcane holds the backstories of League of Legends champions, the series is designed to stand on its own as a complex world filled with moral decisions, breathtaking animation and suspenseful storytelling.
The series will be released in three acts, with three episodes per act. The first act will be focused on Jinx and Vi, sisters in the game's lore. Details of the other acts haven't been revealed, but based on the cast list, you can guess which characters will be making an appearance. Act two will be released on 13 November, and the final act on 20 November.
Arcane will be streaming on Netflix globally, 6th November, don't forget to tune in!
Good news for fans of Wild Rift or its developer, Riot Games, in Southeast Asia. In a press conference this morning, the company outlined some of their plans for the region and mentioned that they will be sticking around for the long term. In addition to reminding us of the upcoming inaugural SEA Championship for their mobile MOBA, Wild Rift, they recapped some of the activities they have carried out and dropped hints on what's to come.
With the local tournaments over, the teams playing in the Wild Rift SEA Championship have been confirmed. However, 12 of these teams will be taking part in the Play Ins, starting 14 September, before they can make it to the main stage. Here is the list of teams competing:
English:
Bahasa Malaysia:
Riot Games reiterated about the importance of SEA, which they've demonstrated in the past with all their various activities, and announced that they'll be expanding their presence in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia (they're currently on the lookout for country managers!). They will also be growing their studios' teams in Singapore and Hong Kong.
According to them, SEA will help shape what Wild Rift esports will look like in upcoming regions (the Americas, Europe, MENA), thanks to our high adoption of mobile gaming esports - especially since it's going to be a separate ecosystem from regular League of Legends. At the end of the conference, they dropped hints about an upcoming global tournament for Wild Rift. No other details were mentioned, but if all goes well, we can expect to hear some news about that soon.
In the meantime, we can watch the best teams in SEA duke it out for the region's crown. Stay tuned to eGG Network for more news and updates!
Merdeka Day is just around the corner and while we won't be going out for countdowns and celebrations, we'll have plenty of entertainment to keep us occupied at home. Riot Games announced that on Malaysia's independence day this year, they'll be launching the Wild Rift and Valorant Merdeka Show. Featuring influencers who are active in the respective games' communities, they'll be playing a variety of fun games throughout the three episodes, each with distinct Malaysian themes.
The influencers will be split into two teams - Team Nasi Lemak consisting of Wild Rift influencers Ikuto, Ellemonade and Sahaja Gaming; and Team Roti Canai with Valorant influencers Soultannn, Emi, and Sya Meoow. They will be dressed up according to the themes of each episode and will compete against each other in games that test their artistic skills and knowledge about Malaysia. There will also be questions related to Wild Rift and Valorant. Expect them to be punished if they get any of the questions wrong!
Viewers who tune in will also be able to answer questions at the end of each episode to win special prizes. In addition to the show, Riot will also be donating US $3,500 to Kechara Soup Kitchen - an organization devoted to helping the poor and marginalized communities in Malaysia. Sounds like it's going to be an exciting event for fans of the games.
Watch the Riot Games Merdeka Show on the official Wild Rift Facebook, YouTube, and Valorant Facebook pages.
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