Paris (AFP)

Ten years after the launch of its only production "League of Legends", the American studio Riot Games intends to innovate with new titles and an animated series, without abandoning the world of his chicken to the golden eggs, one headliners of the e-sports scene.

"League of Legends" ("LoL") still brings together some 100 million players each month, with peaks reaching 8 million connections at the same time, despite the arrival of competitors like "Fortnite", in a different genre.

If this game for computers has evolved since its inception, its creators now intend to change gear. For this, they have just announced several new productions: after the multiplayer battles in closed arenas, among other places to card games, combat and shooting in a subjective view (through the eyes of the protagonist), also very popular in the competitions of gamers.

Only the first has for the moment been widely unveiled. Taking place in the world of "LoL", "Legends of Runeterra" will have the mission to compete with the leader of this market, "Hearthstone" of the American Blizzard.

"Our team loves card games, we play a lot at + Magic +, we've been working on this project for a number of years, we think we're going to be able to shake up the genre, with different mechanics and a fairer economic model", explains the team. AFP Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot Games.

The ambition is to break with the widespread principle of offering players to spend money to hope-without guarantee-the most powerful cards.

"League of Legends" will also arrive on smartphones and consoles, in an adapted version.

- Final in Paris -

"When the development of + LoL + started, the iPhone did not even exist, we observe the habits of the players and we try to offer them a new experience," explains the CEO.

Riot Games, owned by the Chinese giant Tencent, has no intention of forgetting the title that has made its success - and reported some $ 20 billion in revenue since 2009 - and which still mobilizes more than half of its teams of development, strong about 1,000 people.

To conquer new followers, the group based in California will also adapt his universe in an animated series, "Arcane", which will be performed by the Paris studio Fortiche Productions.

The project should see the light of day in 2020. It is entirely financed by the studio because it wanted to keep creative control but discussions with potential broadcasters (streaming platforms, TV channels ...) are planned.

Before that, it is to Paris that the eyes of the players of "LoL" will turn, with the final of the world championships of the game organized on November 10 at the AccorHotels Arena.

While controversy recently plummeted the world of e-sports, after players were sanctioned by Blizzard for publicly stating in favor of the protest movement in Hong Kong, Riot Games sought to take the lead in reminding its rules of good conduct.

"We are all passionate about politics, but we ask players not to put their opinions forward during the broadcast of competitions, it is not a matter of agreeing with them or not, but we think That's not the place to do it.They have social networks for that, "warns Nicolo Laurent.

© 2019 AFP