League of Legends: Wild Rift gameplay video and alpha testing dates are here

Months after rumors of a League of Legends mobile game surfaced, Riot Games made it official during its ten year anniversary event. However, League of Legends: Wild Rift is an entirely new game, rather than just a mobile port of the world’s most popular game. 

So what is this new mobile MOBA? Keep reading for everything you need to know about League of Legends: Wild Rift!

What is League of Legends: Wild Rift?

League of Legends: Wild Rift is a new mobile reimagining of the world’s most popular game, League of Legends. Riot Games has completely rebuilt Summoners Rift (now called Wild Rift) for mobile devices, and redesigned many of the game’s most popular champions and skins.

Gameplay is still 5v5 MOBA action, but with a unique mobile spin. The map is slightly smaller, abilities are cast with dual stick controls, and match times are reduced to a mobile-friendly 15 minutes. It’s also Riot Games’ first excursion into the mobile space, but given the company’s ties to mobile gaming powerhouse Tencent Gaming, expect a level of polish greater than its competitors on mobile platforms.

How much does it cost?

Like the game it’s based on, Wild Rift will be completely free-to-play, with in-app purchases for skins and other cosmetic content. Similar to PC League of Legends, all champions can be unlocked via gameplay alone, or purchased outright to speed things up.

What is the League of Legends: Wild Rift release date?

Although no official Wild Rift release date has been announced, the first round of alpha testing runs from June 6-27 in the Philippines and Brazil for Android devices. The game is slated for release region by region later in 2020, with a full global rollout on mobile planned before the end of the year. The console edition will come some time after that.

You can pre-register now on the Google Play Store, or on the official website.

How do you play Wild Rift?

Wild Rift features the same ability system as LoL PC, but with a mobile control layout. Like many other mobile MOBA titles, this means a dual control stick scheme, with the left stick for moving your character and the right stick for aiming your abilities.

Many champion skills have been adjusted to be easier to control on touch screens. For example, Ashe’s ultimate Enchanted Crystal Arrow can be aimed, rather than flying in a straight line. Long range skill shots also zoom out the camera to make them easier to land on off-screen enemies. Auto attacks and certain skills also use a new auto-targeting system for both creeps and champions.

Items have also been slightly reworked, although they generally still fill the same role as PC LoL. The major exception to this is active items, which now work as enchants on boots. Each player can only purchase one enchant, so make sure you choose wisely between Zhonyas stasis, QSS, Redemption heals, and so on!

As a whole, Wild Rift gameplay has also been accelerated to accommodate mobile play. Instead of the 25-50 minute matches found in LoL PC, Wild Rift will have 15-18 minutes matches. It’s possible that ARAM-style game modes will further reduce this, although for now only the Wild Rift map has been previewed.

What champions are available at launch?

At launch, 40 champions will be available in Wild Rift. These include most classic champions like Annie, Malphite, and Nasus, as well as (relatively) later releases like Yasuo and Camille. Every champ has been completely redesigned and rebuilt from scratch, so not all current skins will be available at launch. Here’s a full list of Wild Rift champions that have been announced so far:

Wild Rift champions:

Is League of Legends: Wild Rift cross-platform?

League of Legends: Wild Rift will be available for mobile and consoles, but cross-play between the two will not be offered. Cross-play with League of Legends PC is also out of the question, as they are completely separate games.

However, certain events will cross over between the two games, and cross-play may be offered in the future between mobile and consoles.

What phones are compatible with Wild Rift?

Riot Games has committed to making its keystone mobile title playable on a wide variety of devices. For Android, this means devices roughly equivalent to the Samsung A7, or devices with the following specs or higher: 1GB RAM, Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor, Adreno 306 GPU. On iOS, it should run on anything newer than the iPhone 5s.

If this holds true, virtually any device released within the last five years will be able to play Wild Rift.

Will progress and champions from League PC transfer to Wild Rift?

No. Although you can connect the two accounts, progress in the two games is separate. However, veteran League of Legends players can earn some special rewards for the years they’ve spent playing the game. Details are still pending on what those rewards actually are.

That’s it for everything you need to know about Riot Games’ first mobile game! Are you excited to hop onto the Wild Rift? Let us know in the comments below!