An announcement by Riot has confirmed the rumors of ending the partnership with Garena, and the SEA servers for League of Legends and TFT will be self-published.
Riot Games has control of many different servers around the world for League of Legends. The chronological order for the official servers in North America, Europe West, Europe Nordic & East, Brazil, Turkey, Russia, Latin America North, Latin America South, Oceania, and Japan. There are also other servers that are internally controlled, like Korean and Chinese servers.
Other than the ones mentioned, Garena has control over the SEA region. The servers for Singapore & Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc., are managed by Garena. It has been like this since 2010 when League of Legends first came to South East Asia.
This brings us to rumors that started to spread a while ago as reports suggested that Garena was going to move out from League of Legends and TFT operations in South East Asia. Those reports are true, as Riot has come out with an official announcement of them taking over operations in the region. Here is what we know so far.
Read More: All Worlds Champion Teams in League of Legends
Riot Ends Partnership With Garena
In an announcement by Riot, they are ending a partnership with Garena after 12 years. The rumors were already floating around, but this has confirmed it. Riot will take control of operations for League of Legends and TFT in South East Asia from 2023 and onwards. The company has already been self-publishing Legends of Runeterra, VALORANT, and League of Legends: Wild Rift in the region.
This new initiative is going to increase Riot’s presence in the region. New local offices will be established in Malaysia, The Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia, with some other locations to have an office as well. The plan from Riot is to give players in the region a “hyper-local experience,” so it will be worth waiting for.
What Does This Mean For Players?
Riot taking over the operations means players will have to migrate their accounts. Hence, players in Garena will have to transition to Riot. Transitioning will let players get in-game rewards as a gift. Also, Riot is planning welcome events and local activities to give the players a better experience.
How Will Migration Work?
Migration from Garena to Riot Accounts will start on November 18th, 2022. Riot will officially launch new League of Legends and TFT Servers in 2023. The Garena servers will cease to operate at the time. Riot and Garena will work together to migrate accounts, provided players start the migration process on November 18th. The announcement urges players to get done with the process as soon as possible.
The migration process will be done through The Account Migration Microsite. The process will begin on November 18th, when players can link their Garena accounts to a Riot account, existing or otherwise. The plan is for the servers to be up by January 2023, when SEA players will be playing through the Riot Multiclient, and Garena servers will cease to exist.
Will Account Progress Be Carried Over?
Riot’s plan is to ensure that everything is carried over. Particularly the ones mentioned are as follows:
- Cosmetic Content: Skins, Ward skins, etc
- Loot Inventory
- RP Purchases
- Champion Mastery, Eternals, Level
- Summoner Name: Any active account that has played a game in 2021 or 2022.
- Friend List: list will populate when friends have migrated
So, with all of that, Riot wants to ensure everything is carried over. Riot also urges to get started with the process early to make sure issues do not pop up.
The migration process will be active until December 31st.
