News
1 CommentTencent profits increase 37 percent in Q1 2013, attributes growth to web games
By Griffin McElroy on May 15, 2013 05.15.13
Tencent Holdings, the Chinese online entertainment company which holds a majority stake in League of Legends dev Riot Games and 40 percent of Epic Games, saw a 37 percent rise in net profits during the first quarter of its fiscal year. According to a Tencent financial report released today, net profit for the quarter which ended March 31 reached 4.04 billion yuan ($657 million), up from 2.95 billion yuan ($480 million) during the same period the previous year. Revenue for the company increased even more sharply, jumping 40 percent to 13.55 billion yuan ($2.2 billion) from 9.65 billion yuan ($1.57 billion) the prior year. The company has showed varying levels of growth across its divisions, including its WeChat mobile chat platform and its e-commerce business. However, Tencent...
News
4 CommentsLeague of Legends reveals new champion Aatrox, the Darkin Blade
By Jenna Pitcher on May 10, 2013 05.10.13
Riot Games' multiplayer online battle arena game, League of Legends, will receive a new champion named Aatrox, the Darkin Blade, according to a post on the game's official website. According to the post, Aatrox excels as a duelist and team fighter. He is a basic attack dependent melee champion who is recommended for top lane due to his sustain and escape mechanics. His abilities include Blood Well that he draws upon when health is depleted; Dark Flight ability where he can rise up and body slam a target; Blood Thirst allows a self heal on every third attack; Blades of Torment is a line attack that deals damage to enemies and slows them down; and Massacre that instantly inflicts damage upon those in the immediate area. For more information about Aatrox's moves and in-depth backstory,...
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11 CommentsLeague of Legends team 'against All authority' disqualified for lack of eligible players
By Megan Farokhmanesh on Apr 28, 2013 04.28.13
League of Legends team against All authority will be unable to participate in the Europe LCS playoffs due to the team's inability to "field a roster of eligible players," VP of eSports Dustin Beck wrote on the game's official forums. Following a team member's departure due to a family emergency, the expected match between aAa and SK Gaming was delayed. The team's eligible replacements were unable to step in, however, and Riot worried about setting a precedent that would "lead to a very slippery slope." "An alternative option was raised to allow for aAa to use a substitute not eligible on their roster, but this would've violated the official rules and put SK in the unfair position of playing against a team composition they were never allowed to practice for," Beck wrote. "In the end...
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3 CommentsLeague of Legends adds paid server transfers between North America and Europe
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Apr 17, 2013 04.17.13
League of Legends players can now perform a one-time transfer between North American and European servers with Riot Games' newly implemented paid transfer system, the company announced on the game's official page. Transfers cost about $20, or 2600 Riot Points, and are non-reversible unless Riot "happen[s] to be giving away free transfer tokens" during the opening of a new server or region, according to the transfer FAQ. Players will be able to keep their username during transfers so long as that tag is still available in the destination server. If it is unavailable, players will be asked to create a new one. Transferring players will also will retain a number of their items and stats, including their level, champions, skins, runes and Riot Points, among others. Friends lists, Tribunal...
Human Angle
102 CommentsCiji is a Robot Jockey with Something to Prove
By John Funk on Apr 10, 2013 04.10.13
Human Angle: Ciji Thornton Human Angle: Ciji Thornton The boxer The boxer Thornton still owns every Guitar Hero and Rock Band game, and all of the knockoffs and imitations. Even the bad ones. These days, Thornton — better known by her gamer tag, Starslay3r — plays Guitar Hero just for fun, but she still plays games competitively. She's trying to learn how to play League of Legends, arguably the biggest eSport in the world. It's an uphill battle; her background is in twitch-based console games, not games played with a mouse and keyboard. But League is where the sponsors are, League is where the money leads and League is where the competition is. Thornton and her partner Zubair between rounds on Robot Combat League. "Not competing sucks," says Thornton,...
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11 CommentsLissandra the Ice Witch coming to League of Legends lineup
By Megan Farokhmanesh on Apr 03, 2013 04.03.13
Multiplayer online battle arena game League of Legends will soon receive another champion, a "mana-efficient" mage named Lissandra. The champion was revealed on the game's official website. According to the post, Lissandra is "a corruptor of nature who plots to unleash an ice age on the world." Lissandra is most effective in the mid or top lanes in combat, Riot Games says, and does well in team battles. As an Ice Witch, Lissandra's abilities place emphasis not on raw damage, but on crowd control, mobility and kiting. The latest champion has several unique abilities. The passive "Iceborn" skill allows Lissandra to cast her next move at no mana. "Ice Shard" allows Lissandra to hurl an ice spear at an enemy, slowing movement speed and adding damage. "Ring of Frost" freezes and damages...
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15 CommentsLeague of Legends female warrior Sejuani gets covered up
By Emily Gera on Apr 03, 2013 04.03.13
League of Legends developer Riot Games is moving away from the often seen skin-flaunting armor used for female characters and has re-designed the game's warrior woman Sejuani with a more realistic depiction of armor in mind. In an updated description for the character, Riot explains how the character's earlier look was at odds with her role as a warrior. "Sejuani's lightly-armored, skin-flaunting, fleshy apparel didn't mesh with the idea of a dominating, ice warrior. Now heavily armored atop Bristle, this visual rework clearly conveys the core of our concept for the champion. She's powerful, capable of conquering the Freljord and leading the Winter's Claw to victory. "If we were going to make Sejuani look imposing, we needed make sure her fierce steed, Bristle, could keep up. Here we...
Culture
2 CommentsLeague of Legends: Cho'Gath Eats the World, the prank that was a year in the making
By Jenna Pitcher on Apr 01, 2013 04.01.13
Riot Games' League of Legends April Fools prank took a year to make and plan, and involved several days of controlled leaks in the lead up to the audacious holiday, the developers told Polygon. The prank planning and development of the arcade-style game, titled League of Legends: Cho'Gath Eats the World, involved game designers, writers, producers, artists, QA, web programmers, international publishing, marketers, player researchers and lawyers. The prank officially began on March 25, when the first clue teased was Riot Games' registration of Chew domains. The developer registered Chewgame.kr, chewgame.co.kr, chewgame.com, chewgame.net, chewesports.com and chewgame.com.br. Domain registrations are often quickly picked up by news sites, as they can be an indication at an unannounced...
News
0 CommentsRiot Games designer says counterplay, teamplay essential to multiplayer experiences
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Apr 01, 2013 04.01.13
Including counterplay and team-based attack mechanics in player-versus-player combat will help designers build strong multiplayer modes, Riot Games vice president of design Tom Cadwell said in a panel at GDC 2013 last Friday. Providing players with "satisfying" attacks is key to good game design, and attacks need to be fun, mentally engaging and have a mechanical payoff, according to Cadwell. Counterplay, or a players' response to opponents' attacks, need to be visually clear, and counterplay added to simply get players out of the way cannot be considered gameplay, he said. Counterplay should be "nuanced, skilled and interesting," offering players multiple options to evade or counterattack. "There needs to be an opportunity to respond, and it's something you need to care about." he...
Report
8 CommentsRiot Games believes in the goodness of League of Legends players
By Samit Sarkar on Mar 24, 2013 03.24.13
As a competitive game, League of Legends inevitably gives rise to what developer Riot Games calls "toxic behavior." The term not only encompasses the specific forms of negativity — obscene language, racism, sexism, throwing a game because you're frustrated or angry — but also their tendency to spread and "infect" other players in a game. It's one of the biggest problems that Riot faces, but instead of dismissing it as intractable or matching the players' outbursts with negativity of its own, the studio chooses to take the high road: believing that League of Legends players aren't jerks at heart. Riot discussed the issue during a panel held yesterday at PAX East 2013. Four representatives from the studio went through their approaches to tackling and ameliorating the situation. "...
