Riot Games says that they will now be self-publishing League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics (TFT) in Southeast Asia, ending their 12-year partnership with Garena who had previously been publishing the game in the region.

Riot will begin self-publishing the two games in the region consisting of Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Philippines, Hong Kong, and Macau in January 2023.

The company says on its website that while they are thankful for the work Garena has done to make League such a popular game in Southeast Asia, they now wish to self-publish their titles so that gamers from Southeast Asia can have the same experience playing League of Legends and TFT as people who play their games around the world:

“Over the past decade, Garena has been instrumental in growing the League community and we’re thankful for their partnership. With Riot’s growth and expansion into a multi-game studio, we are continuing to focus on serving more players around the world and especially in the Asia-Pacific regions. With that in mind, we’ve decided to end our partnership with Garena and self-publish our games across Asia-Pacific. We have already been self-publishing VALORANT, Legends of Runeterra, and League of Legends: Wild Rift in the region, and soon, League and TFT will join them.

To ensure players are getting the best experience possible, we have been ramping up our presence in Southeast Asia, which is home to some of the most passionate players in the world”.

Riot has further said that they are in the process of establishing offices in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and The Philippines which will focus on creating “hyper-local experiences”.

What This Means For Players

SEA players will have to transfer their accounts from Garena to Riot. Once players have transferred they’ll receive a number of in-game gifts and Riot will also be holding some welcome events and local activities.

Riot will be launching new League and TFT servers across key Southeast Asia markets. Garena servers will also cease operation at this time. To ensure that players maintain their accounts, Garena and Riot will be working together to migrate players’ accounts. The migration process will open for players on the 18th of November 2022.

A tutorial for migrating accounts is already available on The Account Migration Microsite. Riot encourages players to migrate their accounts as soon as possible as the earlier you migrate, the more rewards and welcome gifts you’ll get.

SEA players who have accounts on servers outside of the region can also transfer their account to the new SEA server however this will be a one-way transfer to keep that in mind.

What is Getting Transferred

In terms of specific transfers, here is a list of how the transfers work for specific features:

• Cosmetic Content: Don’t worry, your skins are safe! All cosmetic content will be transferred. If you already have a certain skin on both accounts, we’ll provide you with a loot reward equivalent to the value of your cosmetic content. You’ll keep your skins, plus something extra!

• Loot Inventory: All loot items and essence balances will be transferred and added to any existing loot inventory if you already have a Riot account.

• RP: All RP purchases will be added to the Riot account. If you have already made RP purchases on your Riot account, your final RP balance will reflect both your Garena and Riot RP purchases.

• Champion Mastery, Eternals, Level: You’ll still be able to carry your team with your favorite mains! Your personal champions’ specific stats will carry over in the transfer.

• Summoner Name: We know you want to keep your in-game identity. Your summoner name will be retained if you have played at least one game in 2021 or 2022.

• Friends List: You won’t have to leave your team behind! We’ll be transferring your friend list to your Riot account. But note that your list may not appear complete at the beginning of your friends have not transferred their accounts. Your friend list will be complete once all your friends have claimed their accounts.

E-Sports

As part of the transition, Riot has also said they will be taking over The Pacific Championship Series and The Vietnam Championship Series from Garena.

You can find more details on the transition in the FAQ section of Riots’ Website.

League of Legends is available for PC and Mac.