Riot Games has announced the first global event for League of Legends: Wild Rift. The Wild Rift: Horizon Cup 2021 will be held from Nov. 13 to 21 in Singapore as an offline event.
While the event will feature 10 teams from around the world, the Horizon Cup will not be the “first Wild Rift Worlds,” according to a tweet by Leo Faria, the lead of the game’s esports scene at Riot.
While announcing the tournament, Riot said that the event will mark the end of the game’s “preseason.” Faria said that this will be the game’s “kick-off tournament” which will “launch the sport to the world.”
Faria also wrote that Wild Rift esports will have a “bespoke global competition” but this won’t be a “copy” of the League of Legends World Championships. Wild Rift Worlds will also be called something different to provide a clear distinction between the mobile and PC games.
It isn’t surprising to see Riot not commit to a full-scale global competition this year for Wild Rift. The game was released in North and South America in March and still hasn’t been released in South Asia. It makes sense that the company wants to launch a fully-fledged esports scene only after a global release.
There are a lot of expectations from Riot Games for Wild Rift esports given the success of League on PC and the growth of its new FPS title, VALORANT. The company had said previously that it is “going all-in” and aspires to make Wild Rift the “first truly global mobile esport.”
The Horizon Cup 2021 will feature 10 teams from around the world, who will be seeded through ongoing regional competitions. The 10 teams at the Horizon Cup will reportedly be from the following regions:
China: Two (LPL Qualifier and the Spark Invitational)
Southeast Asia: Two (SEA Championship)
Europe: One (Origin Series)
North America: One (Summoner Series)
Korea: One (KR Qualifier)
Japan: One (Japan Cup)
LATAM: One (Lolcito Salvaje Abierto)
Brazil: One (Wild Tour)
Riot has said that it’s working with the country’s tourism board to organize the event at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Center. More details about it will be revealed at a later date.
