00:00Hi everyone, I'm Greg Streit, Head of Creative Development here at Riot.
00:04Today I'd like to share an update about the future of comics heading into 2019.
00:08Over the last couple of years we've released several comics such as Rise, The Burning Lands, and Varus Retribution.
00:13We used these pieces to explore how best to tell stories in the League universe,
00:18and now I want to talk a little bit about what we learned.
00:20First, we experimented with different art styles and have zeroed in on what we think are the right ones to
00:24tell our stories.
00:25Second, through your feedback, we learned that you want longer stories than what a single issue is able to contain.
00:30And then finally, we learned that it's really difficult to coordinate the release of a comic with the release of
00:34a League champion,
00:35since so much can change, even up to the last minute.
00:38Going forward, we're going to use comics less as a promotional tool to hype new releases,
00:41and more to fill out and expand upon the League universe.
00:44So with all this in mind, we wanted to find a partner who really understood the comics business.
00:49We have strong story foundations, and we think we know how to tell them in a heroic way,
00:52but we aren't experts in comic publishing and distribution.
00:55Hopefully you've already heard by now that we think we've found the perfect partner in Marvel.
00:59We see a lot of parallels between the Marvel universe and the League universe,
01:02since both have a huge cast of characters, really strong themes,
01:07but a world with a lot of richness and detail.
01:09We also aspire to be like Marvel, looking back on hundreds of stories when we're developing new projects.
01:14So what are you going to see?
01:15The first product of our partnership in Marvel is coming in December, Ash War Mother.
01:20In it, Ash is going to come to terms with her mother's expectations
01:23and set out on a quest that will end up changing Runeterra.
01:26You'll learn more about Ash's origins, but we also have to move the timeline of Runeterra forward.
01:30So we want to develop series not just about what happened before, but also about what happens next.
01:35Our plan is to release new comics regularly throughout 2019 and leading into 2020,
01:40with the goal of having multiple series releasing each month.
01:43We have three series lined up already,
01:45and we can't wait for them to come out of the shadows and into the light.
01:48We're also excited to be able to offer physical copies.
01:51While Riot's largely a digital company,
01:53we think there's something awesome about being able to hold a comic book in your hands.
01:56By the end of 2019, we want to start offering comics for sale,
01:58just like any other Marvel comic,
02:00ideally at the same time they're available digitally.
02:02We'll still release all of our comics for free on Universe six months after release,
02:06just to make sure nobody misses out.
02:07This really is just the beginning for comics.
02:09With Marvel as our partner,
02:10we see an exciting future for fans of both League of Legends and comic books,
02:14and we can't wait to hear what you guys think.
02:16We'll be back soon with another update,
02:18talking about what else creative development is working on coming in early 2019.
02:22Thanks.
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