Wild Rift League (WRL) Asia: Format, Schedule & Watch Live

Riot Games has revealed details for the anticipated Wild Rift League (WRL) Asia which will feature teams from China and the APAC region. The competition will be throughout the year providing an opportunity to teams in Asia to make it pro.

WRL Asia Wild Rift

The WRL Asia comes on the backdrop of Riot announcing that it was pulling the plug on Wild Rift esports in the West. Instead, the company was only focusing on Asia and said it would be “unlocking the opportunity” for third-party tournaments to happen in the rest of the world.

Wild Rift League Asia: What’s the format?

The WRL Asia is the top-level of competitive Wild Rift esports in the region. It will feature a total of 20 teams: 12 from China and the remaining eight from APAC. Chinese and APAC teams will have separate paths to qualify for the Wild Rift League Asia.

For China, Riot will be hosting the Wild Rift National Leagues (WRN) which will lead into the Wild Rift Tour (WRT). From here, some teams will advance to the WRL Asia.

For APAC, on the other hand, several regional events will be held which will feed into an open qualifier. From here, the best eight teams will head over to the WRL Asia.

Wild Rift League Asia Format

Where to watch Wild Rift League Asia:

Regional Leagues and qualifiers can be followed on Facebook, Weibo, Huya and Bilibili. The main Wild Rift League Asia event will be streamed on Twitch as well:

It’s available as part of the Capcom Fighters stream of the even:

Wild Rift 2023 Esports Season Timeline

The Wild Rift League (WRL) Asia is set to offer fans in Asia esports action all-year round.

WRL Asia will happen across two seasons: the A1 from April to July and A2 from September to December. Between both seasons, there will be a transfer window in August and September for teams to update their rosters.

Running alongside this is the Wild Rift Tour (WRT) in China and the WRL APAC Regional Tournaments. Riot has also hinted that the Finals of each WRL Asia will happen as an offline event. Finally, there will be a two-month off-season in January and February 2024 for teams to recharge.

Wild Rift League Asia Timeline

What does the new system mean for Wild Rift esports?

When Wild Rift was released back in 2020, many touted it to be the next big mobile esport title. Needless to say, the game has failed miserably in becoming that.

While Wild Rift as a game is really great with awesome graphics, it couldn’t pick up as an esport title. Firstly, the game faced swift resistance from rivals MLBB and Arena of Valor in SEA and even Pokémon UNITE in the West.

Secondly, many people have blamed Riot for not investing too much into the ecosystem which is why the esports scene failed to develop. Riot only hosted one full season of Wild Rift esports – that too for only six months before canceling the game in the West.

The future of Wild Rift esports now depends on the WRL Asia. If the league picks up and the game continues to grow in the West, Riot could definitely decide to make a comeback in the future.