League of Legends: Wild Rift preview at Twitch Rivals tonight

LoL Esports
October 22, 2020
Mel Hawthorne

Riot Games, the creators of League and Valorant have signed some pretty large partners for their latest preview. Together with Apple, Verizon and Twitch Rivals, they are set to preview Wild Rift later today.

The somewhat odd partnership with Apple there isn’t as random as it may sound. In the same video clip showcasing Riot’s partnership with Verizon, the brand-new iPhone 12 Pro was shown featuring real in-game moments.

What is Wild Rift?

Wild Rift is an off-shoot from the main League of Legends game. The mobile MOBA game will feature a similar style of play, where players select a hero with unique abilities to reach the other team’s Nexus and destroy it. Items and XP will help the initially weak heroes level up.

Unlike the main game, heroes have to be unlocked rather than being available from the start. Despite this, the game promises to be entirely free to play, and to not ever require players to pay for their heroes. As players level their account up, more heroes become available – Annie, for example, unlocks at Level 6. Not all heroes will be in Wild Rift, but so far some 60+ heroes are confirmed to be in the game, with more likely to follow.

So, the game isn’t a carbon copy of the main game, but will be very similar, giving experienced League players an advantage! You can already register your interest in the Android and Apple app stores.

Wild Rift at Twitch Rivals

Twitch Rivals is set to feature Wild Rift in a special Verizon 5G powered showcase.  If you’ve watched the League of Legends Wild Rift Preview vid, you may have noticed a distinct mobile phone angle in it. The entire event is part of a celebration of the multi-year partnership that Riot Games sighed with phone network provider Verizon this June.

The Wild Rift Invitational will see 10 competitors taking part in a short invitational. Said competitors are a mix of streamers and actors – and it’s quite the list!

Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, Claudio “Cesaro” Castagnoli, Chrissy Costanza, Emmalee “EMUHLEET” Garrido, “FaZe Apex”, Joe Manganiello, William “Meteos “Hartman, Nate Hill, Rick Fox, and ZEDD will be competing.

Alongside them, League pros will be serving as the coaches. Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett and Joedat “Voyboy” Esfahani will guide the stars through the tournament. Alongside them, there will be three commentators for the event – Caleb Simmons, James “Dash” Patterson, and Gabriella “LeTigress” Devia-Allen.

Naturally, the recently revealed iPhone 12 Pro was part of things as well – the 5G enabled phone showed a gameplay reveal in the teaser. The game itself isn’t available yet – it will be released for American audiences in Spring 2021. Until then, the Wild Rift Invitational is a great way for prospective players and fans to check things out.

Limited audiences in South-East Asia will get access sooner, but European and American players will have to wait a while longer.

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