'League of Legends' the movie: Riot says it might be considering a full-length film

Impact

Aside from the inexplicably long-running Resident Evil series, movies about video games tend to be a bit of a mixed bag. Michael Fassbender couldn't save Assassin's Creed from being a dud, and the Alicia Vikander Tomb Raider reboot is being treated with no small amount of apprehension either. All that hasn't stopped Riot Games, the creators of the hugely popular MOBA League of Legends from saying they're not opposed to a big-screen adaption of their game.

League of Legends movie: Details on a film adaptation are scarce

To be fair, this isn't exactly a new development on Riot's part. Daniel Ahmad tweeted a little under a year ago that Riot was interested in a League of Legends movie.

What's unusual about this is the reference to the Warcraft movie, which was a critical and box-office disaster in the U.S.A., grossing just over $24 million in its opening weekend in spite of breaking records abroad — specifically in China. So even if Riot and Tencent, who owns a majority stake in the game developer do go forward with a League of Legends movie, the shape it takes at this point is really anyone's guess.

Riot developers have even said as much when asked about the plans to bring League of Legends to other media. According to PvP Live, Brandon Beck — Riot's cofounder — expressed similar apprehension about making that jump, saying "the track record on video game movies is a humbling lesson." Ultimately, he seemed interested in the idea, assuming they could find a way to stay true to what people loved about the game:

What's most important to us is that any extension of League into other mediums feels authentic to the source and respectful of the passion we all share for the game and its universe. It's a big challenge, but we think we can get there if we invest the time in learning how to do it right.

Only time will tell what Riot and Tencent choose to do with the rights to League of Legends, but given World of Warcraft's success overseas, chances are good this won't be the last we hear of it.

More gaming news, updates, tips and tricks

Check out the latest from Mic, including our deep dive into how female Overwatch players are dealing with online harassment, an article about a fan movement advocating for more same-sex romance options in Mass Effect, a personal essay about JonTron written by a fellow Iranian-American and an article looking at cultural diversity in Overwatch.