Tencent Holdings in China is working with Riot Games, developer of the popular multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game “League of Legends” in the United States, to develop the smartphone version of the game. According to one of the sources, Tencent had about a decade ago suggested a mobile version of League of Legends to Riot, but the developer rejected the proposal. Tencent then went on to release its own mobile MOBA for China, “Honor of Kings” – a game similar to Legends of Legends. It went on to become the world’s highest grossing MOBA game in 2018. Tensions between Tencent and Riot Games further increased when the former launched a version of “Honor of Kings” for the western market called “Arena of Valor” in 2016 and 2017. However, this version failed to make a mark in the western market and was regarded as a “flop” by some analysts. Both the companies have since moved on and have been working on an iOS and Android version of League of Legends for over a year now suggests reports. However, Reuters’ sources said that the mobile version is unlikely to be released in 2019. Originally, Riot didn’t want to develop a smartphone version of League of Legends, but the fall in revenue by 21% in 2018 from League of Legends could have prompted the move, sources stated. “League of Legends is not doing as well as it used to and so Riot badly needs a new way to monetize the game, especially considering that it is Riot’s only game,” Analyst Gu Tianyi explained. Neither representatives from Tencent nor Riot have not responded on the report.
