To keep the 10-year anniversary celebrations going, Riot Games has unveiled yet another interesting project. LoL Esports Manager will put you in the shoes of the manager of a professional League of Legends team. First launching for the LPL in 2020, the game will give you full control of one of League‘s top-tier teams. The player will be able to make every major decision, such as selecting strategies, doing picks and bans, and even managing rosters.
While Riot hasn’t given us a lot of details, we do know how the game will generally function. It will supposedly create unique moments and situations the player will have to adapt to. This will be done with a new AI system that will give the players a more tactical experience. Furthermore, it will be entirely based on actual esports professionals and give the player the chance to build amazing rosters. Players will have the option of seeing everything through the eyes of a single protagonist or even compete with others in ranked.
What’s more, Riot wants to give something back to the esports ecosystem with this game. That is why a portion of the earnings from LoL Esports Manager will be shared with the esports teams. The first region to get this revenue share, along with the game, will be the LPL in 2020, with others receiving it later.
An oft-neglected genre
LoL Esports Manager will be Riot’s first dive into the sports manager genre. While the genre has been around for some time, it has never been particularly popular. With games like the Football Manager franchise being the most known, it sees little sales compared to other genres. The reason for its unpopularity usually lies in the time that players must invest in order to master the game. Sports manager games often involve complex strategies, training and lineup management, budget allocations…
One can easily see why this genre doesn’t appeal as much to casual players, but true sports fans more often than not love these kinds of games. That is why I also think LoL Esports Manager will be a great addition for us hardcore esports fans.
Do you think Riot will be able to reach its audience in the esports market with this game? Let us know in the comments below! And for more League of Legends news, stay in touch with Daily Esports.
