Faker Makes an Unexpected Appearance in Riot’s “Wild Rift”
Since its introduction, League of Legends: Wild Rift has been regarded as Riot Games’ “mobile game” and is expected to lead in the gaming market, challenging the dominance of League of Legends in the future. Alongside exclusive design elements, Riot has officially integrated their “pride” concept into Wild Rift with the champion Faker and his iconic champion Ryze.
In the past, Faker had actively promoted League of Legends: Wild Rift during its launch phase. However, since then, he has not consistently engaged with Riot’s “mobile game.” Consequently, Faker’s recent “return” has surprised many of his fans. Simultaneously, there are questions about how Riot will incorporate Faker and Ryze into the game.
The Appearance of Faker Signals Riot’s “Desperate Measures”
Another perspective that has emerged is somewhat negative. Specifically, there are questions such as: “Is it that Wild Rift cannot create its own identity and has to rely on Faker?” This raises the question of whether Riot is acknowledging a failure in distancing this game from League of Legends.
In reality, to this day, it can be said that Riot has struggled to attract players to Wild Rift. The PC version of League of Legends has not performed well, while Wild Rift’s adaptation of champions from PC has been overly complicated for casual mobile gamers who prefer a simpler experience. Moreover, the competitive scene has not seen many significant impacts, especially with top teams like T1, G2, or BLG not being able to draw views.
When Riot itself has to “borrow” Faker to draw attention to Wild Rift, it indicates that the situation is more than just a marketing strategy—there might be deeper issues at play, suggesting that League of Legends has a significant shadow over this new title, at least until it can stand on its own.
