With Riot Games having a 10th anniversary live-stream tomorrow for its global community, including a localized one in China, the rumor mill was in full swing for the past few weeks. We are of course talking about a mobile version of League of Legends. In previous news over the years, it was mentioned that the founders of Riot Games did not want owner Tencent Games to build a mobile MOBA using the League of Legends IP, leading to the birth of Honor of Kings which earned hundreds of millions in China. The overseas version, Arena of Valor, did reasonably well but not at the neck-breaking numbers desired by Tencent.
Update: The mobile version for League of Legends is finally announced!
Once again, according to various reports, Riot Games did not perform too well financially, leading to the founders stepping down from management roles in 2017. This gave Tencent Games the all-clear to build a League of Legends mobile game, and 2 years seems like the perfect time to showcase and hype the game before a possible official launch next year. Or will the recent anti-China social issues force a strategic delay in the official announcement?
Here are some of the more official clues thus far, mostly based on trademarks filed in North America and China by Riot Games.
League of Legends: Supremacy
The story of League of Legends: Supremacy started years ago back in 2012. Since then, Riot Games regularly renewed this trademark. League of Legends: Supremacy started out as a PC game (according to rumors), but according to the latest filing on 28 June 2019, it is listed as a “Downloadable computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones; downloadable video game software; recorded video game software.” Could this finally be the mobile game based on League of Legends? There are still no confirmations though.
英雄联盟手游
This trademark was filed in China on 21 June 2019 by 利奥游戏公司, the Chinese name of Riot Games. “英雄联盟手游” literally translates to “League of Legends mobile game”, no gimmicks here. Other than the trademark application for a software, others such as merchandise were filed as well. We could at least confirm from here that a mobile game based on League of Legends is being prepared, though we feel this is not the final name. Also, this trademark was not filed in North America. Given the 1-week gap, is this actually League of Legends: Supremacy? I mean, calling it LOL Mobile will certainly be too obvious..
Other rumors so far:
Legends of Runeterra – So far from the trademark applications filed in China, nothing points at this being a software. It is yet another merchandise gimmick it seems.
英雄联盟: 符文之地 – This is translated as “League of Legends: Ground of the Runes,” which I suppose to be Legends of Runeterra. A quick look on the Chinese trademark applications does not indicate this is a software as well, similar to Legends of Runeterra above.
Various “screenshots” – There have been many supposed “screenshots” from China claiming they are from the mobile version of League of Legends, and of course none of them are confirmed to be real. But some can be seen as awesome photoshops though, with the Chinese media claiming their various sources to be “real.” We shall find out very soon!
TELLSTONES – This is a new trademark filed by Riot Games in North America on 29 July and in China on. Various applications have been submitted, from clothing to board games. Of course, the most important one is “downloadable video game software,” but we do not know if it is for mobile devices. A very interesting find, as trademark applications usually are specific on the platforms when it comes to software downloading.
Other news:
Teamfight Tactics Mobile – If you did not already know, the mobile version of Teamfight Tactics was actually confirmed during launch. Trademarks for “Teamfight Tactics Mobile” and “Teamfight Tactics mobile version” have been filed in China, though not in North America yet base don a recent check. Weird, or perhaps Riot Games see no need to.
True Damage – I can’t really make out what these trademark applications are about, but they are active in both North America and China since 30 August 2019. True Damage is definitely not a gaming software, but seemingly a new brand for a merchandise range. I mean, there are baby shampoo, bath gels, audio books, jewelry, beanbags, shoes, shorts and many more included. Of course, it does not mean Riot Games will be making every single item, but it is still fascinating seeing all these trademark applications in action.
