150+ Free LoL Champions for SEA Players

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Riot Games will finally self-publish League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics in South East Asia after 12 years of partnership with Garena. The long-awaited event will kick off in January 2023 as soon as the contract with Garena ends. The company has prepared many welcoming bonuses and surprises for players who migrate their Garena accounts to Riot. 

Twelve Years of Garena in SEA

When Riot Games first published the most-played MOBA game in the world back in 2009, they only had one server in California, USA. This was a huge problem for people in Southeast Asia. If they wanted to play the game, they had to go through more than 200 ping. A year later, Riot let Garena, an organization from Singapore, be in charge of publishing the League in this region. 

At first, everything was going well, but Garena’s support decreased over time. There were different in-game events and limited skins, and the platform itself became simply inadequate. The players felt like they weren’t playing the same game anymore. Finally, after 12 years, Riot games is taking over publishing in SEA.

What Does This Mean for the Players?

Riot has been building up its presence in Southeast Asia lately. Now that they’ve evolved into a multi-game studio, the players in this region will get the same LoL treatment as everywhere else. 

This won’t be the first time Riot Games self-publish in Asia: they already handled publishing Valorant, League of Legends: Wild Rift, and Legends of Runeterra. In January 2023, they are adding League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics to the list. The company is even opening local offices in the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia. But in order to play LoL, all players need to transition their Garena accounts to Riot until the end of the year.

Account Migration Process

On November 18, this process will be available for all Garena accounts. A tutorial on how to migrate is already on Riot’s Microsite. The earlier you link the Garena account, the more welcoming bonuses you’ll get! It’s crucial to do this before Riot Games launches new LoL and TFT servers in the region. 

The question is: what happens to all the levels and skins you own on your Garena account? Apparently, there’s no need to worry because Riot will make sure you hold onto your content:

  • Cosmetics
  • Loot inventory
  • RP purchases
  • Champion Mastery, Eternals, Level
  • Summoner name
  • Friends list

Garena Shuts Down Their Servers in January 2023

This is why it’s important to transition the accounts. If a player doesn’t do it within the given period, all the content will be lost. There is no way to retrieve all the effort the players put into leveling and progressing through the game. However, the company “will have a host of return rewards in store for players in the new year,” as stated in the announcement. But the bigger reason to link Garena’s account to Riot is the amazing welcome-back bonuses!

Get Your Free Champions!

Managing Director APAC for Riot Games, Alex Kraynov, said they want to congratulate players for coming back to the Riot ecosystem by rewarding them. The players can expect various bundles, capsules, and other exciting presents. The biggest one is getting all the Champions that were released from 2009 to 2021. As soon as you finish the in-game quests, 157 Champions will be unlocked completely for free. In 2022, League got five more Champs (K’Sante, Zeri, Renata Glasc, Nilah, and Bel’Veth). These won’t be able for free, but hopefully, you’ll find a convenient Champion among 157 free ones!

Other Bonuses

SEA players didn’t have the access to some of the features that other regions were able to use. Stream drops, pick-ems, and Clash will now be available for everyone. More competitive in-game events and offline campaigns are also expected. Another benefit is access to Riot’s localization, billing, and player support. But keep in mind that the unused Garena shells won’t be converted into Riot points. You can still use them in other Garena games, though.

Riot Takes Over LoL eSports

Besides continuing to operate the Pacific Championship Series, Riot will also take back the ownership of the Vietnam Championship Series. The partnership with Garena immensely contributed to the development of the LoL eSports scene in SEA. This region is undeniably home to the most passionate League of Legends players, and without Garena’s support in the past decade, the game wouldn’t have had the same success. 

Riot Games is aware of this fact: “We are grateful for Garena’s partnership and publishing support over the past decade. Their efforts have built an incredible community of League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics players across Southeast Asia, and the games’ success would have been impossible without them,” said Kraynov.

Reddit Users Happy About the Change

In a League of Legends subreddit post about Riot Games self-publishing the game, dozens of comments say: “We’re finally free!” The post has gathered more than 990 comments and thousands of vote-ups. People also assume that Riot had to continue the partnership with Garena until they aggregated the assets, people, and power to set everything right in SEA. It must have been a complex mission, but we believe Riot Games will handle this with ease. SEA players, don’t miss the opportunity to link your Garena account to Riot ID until December 31st, and enjoy the in-game bonuses starting in January 2023!

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