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Riot Games Make Their Move Against Blizzard?

Riot Games is celebrating their ten year anniversary and announced their upcoming projects. Is Riot preparing to take the fight to Blizzard.?

October 28, 2019

Michael Solseth

How’s it going everyone, I’m Mike Sol and I am one of many contributing writers to Culture of Gaming. You can usually find me playing some of the latest games to come out, although I tend to avoid anything related to sports or strategy. I enjoy the big three and all the games on them but my main console is the Xbox One. I don’t have a specific preference in gaming, but any game that has fun action and beating up waves of enemies is usually my cup tea. If you ever want me to game with me or want me to write about something of interest, feel free to hit me up. I hope to have a personal blog set up soon, but my loyalties shall remain with CoG.

It is almost hard to imagine that ten years ago, Riot Games would launch a small game that would become one of the biggest games of all time. It’s unreal to think League of Legends is ten years old and continues to go durable as one of the stand-out MOBA titles. To celebrate this landmark, Riot Games took the time to pat themselves on the back, give their thanks to the community that made all of this possible, and share what will be coming soon. Yes, there will be a new champion, and there will be changes to Summoner’s Rift, but then we saw something rather unexpected.

It’s not to say that Riot Games is only able to work on one game, but League of Legends is their bread and butter. But we got to see a small sneak peek at a few of their other projects, and you could say they have a particular company in their crosshairs.

If you were to ask any PC Player, “Which gaming company is the most prominent on PC?” you likely will hear Blizzard within the first three guesses. You know the titles going up and how nowadays Blizzard has three primary focuses: World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Hearthstone. There are other titles that Blizzard may be working on too (you guys do have cell phones, right?), and there are also Heroes of the Storm, but you can probably guess which game outdid that one…

But with this recent update from Riot Games, it would seem they want to take on Blizzard directly. Previously, this would be a silly notion even to try, but considering the current circumstances, it could very well be possible that Blizzard’s competition could pose a competitive threat.

League of Fighting?

So before we talk about the two titles in production, we should briefly mention this. While it could be doubtful to think this fighting game featuring League of Legends characters maybe a touch gimmicky, it does seem that Riot Games does want to expand their horizons into another competitive genre. We don’t have many details to work with as it is likely well in development, but considering the wide roster that’s getting close to 150; you probably could take a few dozen or so and toss them into 1v1 fights.

Source: Riot Games

As exciting as it would be to see your favorite LoL characters fight each other 1v1, one can’t help but wonder who the target audience is. If you were to look at a few “Fighting Game Youtubers” react to the news, they are somewhat split on the concept. It isn’t to say the game will be dead in the water, but one must be careful to consider who you market the game too. The challenge will be to strike a balance between those who enjoy fighting games casually and those who would take a “Competitive League Of Legends Fighting Game” seriously. Considering that the guys who made Rising Thunder are the ones making this, hopefully, they will have a plan ready to go when the game comes out. Of course, it’s hard to say when exactly we’ll get it as it is well in early development.

Overwatch + Counterstrike =

Under the simple title of “Project A,” we have a new tactical shooter. Funny how you have a company that is well known for making a popular game on PC which then can suddenly switch to the shooting genre, but then again, that is what they said about Overwatch too and look at where it is today.

Whereas all the other announcements from Riot Games still had ties to League of Legends in some capacity, Project A looks to be its own unique game; a new IP in the making. Funny enough, while we can draw comparisons to Overwatch while looking at the gameplay, others wouldn’t hesitate to say how there’s a bit of Counterstrike in there too. Heck, perhaps they could also take a few pointers from Apex Legends too as there are plenty of unique “Hero Based” shooters that have been helping to develop the concept of hero shooters that Riot Games could sample.

But consider this: If this title were to launch and catch many people’s attention, that would mean we have a title that could compete against Overwatch. There would be critical differences in gameplay, but then again, others wouldn’t hesitate to point out other titles like Battleborn or Paladins. Depending on how engaging the gameplay is and how often we see updates and developments, it could make Blizzard look like they are much slower in comparison. If you were to ask people in the Overwatch community about the most significant issues facing the game (besides toxicity because all games have that same issue), it is how the game has long periods of waiting for new content to show up (unless you count event skins) and how the game still has balance issues.

I can’t believe it’s not Hearthstone- Legends of Runeterra

So imagine the week Blizzard had where you have so many people swearing off Hearthstone due to the recent controversy. While it might not have been intentional, Riot Games either has incredible luck or chose the best time if any to announce their own Card Game:

While all other project announcements are well within their early development, Legends of Runeterra already looks to be ready to go as they have started “Pre-Registration” for their card game. While you can probably look at the game and think of it as yet another clone, there is actually a lot going into the game. The art you get in the cards is downright amazing as they are all original designs and can expand out to showcase just how much detail went into each one.

The gameplay itself also has a high focus on skill and strategy as well as the decks you build can be able to add a lot of depth to your moves, such as how some cards can work with each other and how hero cards can evolve into stronger versions of themselves. Best of all, if you are worried about the “Monetization” part of the game, you can earn cards for free while playing and or get the precise card you need instead of having to rely on RNG to be generous. You can essentially build your collection as you see fit.

What does this mean for Blizzard?

As you can imagine, these steps by Riot Games are certainly something you do not want to overlook, and something Blizzard will want to take seriously. Considering the approach Legends of Runeterra is taking on making a more engaging and “Wallet-Friendly” game, this could start to move players over to a more exciting online card game. How will Blizzard respond to this? Who’s to say since these announcements by Riot Games are just that: Upcoming plans on what they plan on doing. League Of Legends will continue to be the bread and butter, but they want to have the complete Breakfast Package.

With Blizzcon a couple of days away, we will likely see what titles they will announce as well as if there are any new titles such as what was previously rumored. For all we know, this could become the next big “PC War” besides Valve vs. Epic Games, where two publishers will be going at it against one another as they do what they can to win the consume over to play their games and drop the cash on their laps. Hopefully, this will mean “Better deals” for everyone else in the long run, but we need to hope that Riot Games doesn’t fumble first.

But what do you guys think? Are you excited about the upcoming titles Riot Games have planned? Will Blizzard be able to hold off this new forthcoming competition? And will this mean better times for the players? Or a sign of dark things to come? Either way, be sure to follow us here at Culture of Gaming as we will be sure to cover this, Blizzcon 2019, and all other things in the gaming world.

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