League of Legends: The Reason why LOL pulled out of Garena

After 12 years of connection, Riot Games reclaimed the publishing rights to League of Legends (LoL) and Teamfight Tactics (TFT) in Southeast Asia. It happened in January 2023 when multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) Titans quit their longtime third-party publisher Garena.

The End of an Era for Garena’s LoL Publishing

League of Legends was launched in 2009 by Riot Games however Garena premiered the game to Southeast Asian gamers in 2010. The Singapore-based game developer and publisher invested in dedicated servers in the region to give players lower ping environments for a smoother experience.

In 2012, Garena helped lead the first LoL esports League with the Garena Premier League (GPL) before Riot created the pro-League Championship Series (LCS). National teams such as Singapore Sentinels, Taipei Assassins, ahq eSports Club, among others, helped establish Southeast Asian LoL as a global league through the GPL.

However, over time Garena lost LoL technical support, infrastructure, and resources. As LoL has seen more decline in recent years compared to mobile titles, it sounds like Garena has moved onto other Tencent titles such as Arena of Valor.

Riot Games Reassumes LoL Publishing Control 

In the official announcement on 9 November 2022, Riot Games stated that “we are now publishing League and TFT in Southeast Asia as part of our Asia Pacific expansion.” With regional capabilities built out, the developer believes it’s time to reclaim control.

Starting last January 2023, LoL and TFT now operate on new Riot servers, with the existing Garena servers shutting down. All player accounts, data, skins, currency, and progress will transfer over through an account migration process opening on November 18th. Riot is even rewarding migrating players with bonus loot and over 150 free champions.

Riot is also returning to dominate the professional LoL esports structure such as the Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) and Pacific Championship Series (PCS). The company hopes to revive competition by adding more community events, collegiate tournaments, and offline activations.

What This Means for Southeast Asian Players

Most crucially, the transition to Riot publishing means LoL and TFT players in Southeast Asia will finally be integrated into the global community. They’ll have access to cross-game events, worldwide campaigns, and seamless connectivity with the entire player base.

Riot has regional offices in major Southeast Asian markets including the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia. This allows for better regionalization and the ability to tailor experiences for each country’s audience.

Garena’s publishing deal was a necessity in 2010 to bring LoL to the region, but technology and infrastructure have evolved substantially since then. Riot is now capable of self-publishing its flagship titles worldwide while crafting localized experiences through its expanded presence.

The Future for Riot and Garena

Riot is clearly positioning itself for further growth across the Asia Pacific by controlling its biggest IPs. VALORANT and Legends of Runeterra should follow LoL and TFT in becoming self-published by Riot in Southeast Asia down the line as well.

As for Garena, the writing has been on the wall for some time. Once a pioneering publisher, many of its legacy games have shut down in recent years like Heroes of Newerth and Ring of Elysium. Garena seems to be pivoting towards popular mobile/casual titles developed by parent company Tencent.

Last January 2023 Riot held a “month-long prize-filled, server-warming party” in Southeast Asia to mark LoL’s long-awaited return. For the region’s League of Legends faithful, it marks a new era in which they can finally welcome Riot after 12 years under Garena’s wing.