App2Top.ru I asked the authors of League of Legends about the reasons for launching a mobile game Blitzcrank’s Poro Roundup, as well as whether to expect new games for smartphones and tablets from Riot Games.
The questions were answered by the senior producer of Riot Games Thomas Vu.
On August 20, Riot Games released the mobile game Blitzcrank’s Poro Roundup. As far as we understand, its release was timed to coincide with the release of new themed skins for League of Legends characters. But it is not entirely clear what tasks the company pursued by releasing it. Will you shed some light on this?
Thomas Wu
Our goal was to create an interesting adventure for PC and mobile, which successfully coincided with the release of themed “arcade” images.
How are these tasks completed by the project?
The players really liked the game, we received a lot of positive feedback. For us, this is the main measure of success.
Can you share the results that the game has achieved to date (downloads, retention)?
We do not share such data with the general public, but we are very pleased with the number of installations and ratings that have been received from players.
By the way, why, despite its direct relation to League of Legends, it was decided to abandon the use of the name of your title project in the name of the application. Why not call the game something like this: “League of Legends: Blitzcrank’s Poro Roundup”? So, for example, Gameloft often does.
When we created Blitzcrank’s Poro Roundup, we didn’t expect the players to like it because of the IP, we wanted them to enjoy the exciting gameplay. We focused on making a great game in the first place, but we were lucky that many players were interested due to the fact that their favorite champions from League of Legends are involved in it, with whom you can interact in a unique way.
Blitzcrank’s Poro RoundupIt was reported that Blitzcrank’s Poro Roundup will be available for download only for a limited time.
It is not entirely clear what caused this decision. Why not make the game available all the time?
We usually make such game events and content temporary in order to emphasize their peculiarity and make participation in them memorable for players. However, we are pleased with the reaction of the players and we will definitely consider the wishes of the community regarding the availability of the game on an ongoing basis.
Is it worth waiting for new mobile projects after Riot Games returns to the mobile market?
So far, all our experiments with mobile games have been timed to special occasions and events. We are constantly looking for new ways to interact with players, but right now our efforts are focused around League of Legends.
If so, are we talking about frivolous minimalistic projects again, or can we hope for something large-scale?
We are constantly considering the possibilities of creating both small and large games for our audience.
League of LegendsThree years ago, Valve announced that it was working on a tablet version of Dota 2, but then it was stopped by low device performance.
I’m sure Riot Games is also thinking about porting League of Legends to mobile platforms. The question is, what stops the company, why is there Vainglory on tablets, but there is no full-fledged mobile LoL?
We believe that League of Legends is best played on its native platform – PC. It is on it that most core gamers play games and it is on it that Riot Games’ attention is focused.
Thanks for the interview!
Riot Games company will be at White Nights Moscow 2015, which will be held on October 13-14.