Tag: Legends

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The Verge

‘League of Legends’ world championship will be held in Shanghai starting in September


Even though many esports tournaments this year have been postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, Riot Games announced that it will hold the League of Legends World Championship 2020 in Shanghai from September 25th to October 31st. The finals will be held in Pudong Soccer Stadium. The company says by hosting the event at one site rather than several different sites, they’ll be able to more closely control the show environment.

At present the plans call for early stages of the tournament to have no in-person audiences. The company says it will rely on “local guidelines” to decide whether to allow an in-person audience for the finals. If so, details about tickets and any safety measures that need to be applied will be available later this summer. Read More

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Engadget

‘League of Legends’ championship will start in Shanghai despite pandemic


The company is clearly following the practices of conventional sports that have relied on limited travel and virtual fans to minimize the risk of infections, but that also means it shares some of the same issues. While a single city reduces travel, it doesn’t eliminate travel — teams will have to fly across the planet to participate. There are also no mentions of whether or not teams will live in a “bubble,” how often they’ll be tested for COVID-19, or what happens if players get sick. Read More

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The Verge

Riot faces criticism after League of Legends competition sponsored by Saudi megacity


Riot has come under fire after the League of Legends European Championship (LEC), one of the most popular esports leagues in the world, announced a sponsorship deal with the controversial Saudi Arabian megacity Neom. The developer announced today that the city would become one of the “main sponsors” for the league, joining the likes of Kit Kat and Kia.

The announcement was met with instant criticism, given the Saudi government’s long history of human rights abuse, which extends to the creation of Neom, pitched as a futuristic playground. In its announcement, Riot explained that the city “will be championing the development of esports across the world.” Fans noted their displeasure with the deal on Twitter; the timing is especially egregious, given that the LEC’s Twitter avatar currently features a pride flag, while homosexuality is illegal in Saudi Arabia. Read More

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Cool Things

Hasbro Marvel Legends Deadpool’s Head Interactive


There’s no shortage of contemporary toys that play pre-recorded messages depending on how you interact with it. If you pat it on the head, it says one thing. If you pull it up by the arm, it says another. The Hasbro Marvel Legends Deadpool’s Head does, pretty much, the same thing. Except, you know, it’s Deadpool’s head. Without a body. And it says all the dastardly things that made the foul-mouthed comic book hero such a beloved character.

No, it doesn’t use any of the lines from the two Hollywood Deadpool movies, so you won’t be listening to ugly Ryan Reynolds dole out witty banter every time you play with this thing. Instead, they use all-new lines of dialogue, which is even better, since you probably know all the movie lines by now after the fourth time you watched them. Sadly, they didn’t sign up Reynolds to do the job, although the voice actor does sound a lot like him, so Deadpool still sounds like the Deadpool you know and love. Read More

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Tech Radar

Can Valorant conquer CS:GO, Overwatch and Apex Legends? It certainly looks that way


Valorant, the new team-based multiplayer shooter from Riot Games, is a brave undertaking. Launching a brand new, competitive first-person shooter in an already saturated market is a major risk. But if any developer is up for the task, it’s Riot Games. After all, the developer built League of Legends from scratch and turned it into a household name in PC gaming circles. It’s also an incredibly popular esport, too.

However, despite the pedigree of its creator, Valorant has a Herculean task if it wants to thrive among the giants of competitive shooters. Is it an instant contender, then, or does Riot still have work to do? Let’s take a look. Read More

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The Verge

Riot is selling League of Legends skins to raise money for COVID-19 relief


Some of League of Legends’ most popular characters are getting a medical-themed makeover. Today, developer Riot revealed a new initiative featuring a line of cosmetics for the strategy game, sales of which will be donated to pandemic-related charity efforts. The lineup includes skins for three characters — Akali, Shen, and Kennen — along with various icons, emotes, and other cosmetic upgrades. Each item will be sold individually, but there’s also a bundle available that comes with an exclusive icon. Read More

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VentureBeat

Riot Games announces 4-week League of Legends fundraiser for frontline health workers


Riot Games said it will stage a four-week charity fundraiser for frontline health workers in League of Legends, its popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) with millions of players around the globe.

The studio’s fundraiser begins at 1 p.m. Pacific on June 25 and ends on July 23. During this time, Riot will be donating 100% of proceeds from characters such as Nurse Akali, Kennen M.D., and Surgeon Shen — and other related items — to the Riot Games Social Impact Fund. That gives players a chance to give back and support frontline health workers — and with millions of people playing this MOBA, that’s a lot of potential donors. Read More

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VentureBeat

How indie studio Double Stallion partnered with Riot to make a League of Legends game


When Riot Forge came calling at Double Stallion Games in Montreal, they didn’t say what it was for. They asked the game studio to make one of its signature 2D action platformer games. Only later did they find out that the game would be set in the League of Legends universe.

Conv/rgence: A League of Legends Story is one of 10 announced games and projects that Riot Games unveiled in October. The projects are intended to enhance or diversify beyond the decade-old League of Legends free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game, which still has more than eight million concurrent players. Read More

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The Verge

EA is bringing Apex Legends to Switch and launching Steam versions of popular titles


EA announced today that popular battle royale shooter Apex Legends will be coming to the Nintendo Switch and Steam this fall. The game has only been available on PC via Origin, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 since it launched in February 2019. Apex Legends developer Respawn said the game would be getting crossplay this fall as well.

Apex Legends isn’t the only EA game coming to Steam — the studio announced that five more EA games, including Titanfall 2, The Sims 4, Dead Space 3, and A Way Out are all playable “right this second.” Need for Speed: Most Wanted is also now on Steam, according to Kotaku.au. Read More

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VentureBeat

Apex Legends coming this fall to Switch with crossplay


Apex Legends is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch this fall, with full crossplay enabled with other platforms (PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Origin). That’s a big move for Respawn Entertainment and Electronic Arts, as EA is finally moving to the Switch in a big way. EA made the announcement at the EA Play 2020 event today.

Apex Legends is one of EA’s biggest games, and the company’s Respawn Entertainment studio is investing a lot in the franchise to make sure that it stays popular as an evergreen free-to-play battle royale shooter. Read More