Riot Games announced it will handle publishing duties in Southeast Asia for its games League of Legends and its mobile spinoff Teamfight Tactics beginning January 2023. Up until that point, both titles were being published in that region by Singaporean publisher Garena.
The explanation from Riot is that since it already self-publishes titles such as Valorant and Legends of Runeterra in that region, along with other countries such as Japan and India, the developer has decided to bring its final two games into the fold. It also helps Riot increase its global presence, especially in the particularly lucrative Asia-Pacific regions.
“Over the past decade, Garena has been instrumental in growing the League community and we’re thankful for their partnership,” the developer wrote. “By self-publishing, we will make sure players in Southeast Asia have the same League and TFT experience as people who play our games all around the world.”
Garena has been the publisher of both Riot games in Southeast Asia since their respective launches in 2010 (League of Legends) and 2019 (Teamfight Tactics). Outside of those two particular titles, it’s also published Heroes of Newerth, which closed this past June, and Phoenix Labs’ monster-hunting online game Dauntless.
To help with the transition, Riot has begun to open offices in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia, so players in those countries will have offices dedicated to them. New servers for both games will also be launched.
“With Riot’s growth and expansion into a multi-game studio, we are continuing to focus on serving more players around the world and especially in the Asia-Pacific regions,” continued Riot. “To ensure players are getting the best experience possible, we have been ramping up our presence in Southeast Asia.”
Riot also confirmed that it and Garena are working on an account migration service that will launch for affected players beginning on November 18.