Riot says its “relationship with Tencent is the best it’s ever been”

Earlier this week, a highly report detailed report described alleged tensions between League of Legends developer Riot and parent megacorp Tencent. The report cites declining League player numbers and bad blood over Tencent’s desire for and (development of) a mobile MOBA. Riot acknowledges that the relationship has been strained in the past, but says it’s now “the best it’s ever been.” Riot Games is wholly owned by Tencent Games, which purchased a majority stake in 2011 and finished the acquisition in 2015. Some time during that period, Tencent asked Riot to develop a mobile version of League, recognizing the overall greater popularity of smartphones than PCs in China. Riot wasn’t interested in making a more casual version of League appropriate for those devices, however. Tencent released its own mobile MOBA in 2015 - the game now known in the West as Arena of Valor. People at Riot were stunned by the game’s similarities to League, according to The Information’s report. One unnamed former employee says “they were blatantly ripping off our intellectual property.”

from PCGamesN https://ift.tt/2Bb7tbe