BY CHARLES BATTERSBY | Tribeca Enterprises is known for the Tribeca Film Festival, but they recently launched a new project that examines another art form: video games. On Nov. 13, “Tribeca Games Presents The Craft and Creative of League of Legends” dedicated an entire day to a single massively popular game. The developers of “League of Legends” came to New York to show fans how they use art, music, and narrative to create their game.
“League of Legends,” or just “League” as its fans call it, is an online game where teams of players battle for control of strategic points on a map. Each player chooses a “Champion” that they control, and “League” is known for its huge roster of colorful characters.
Playable Champions include gaming archetypes like warriors, wizards and robots, and the increasingly outlandish 128-strong stable includes demonic cookie bakers, anthropomorphic bear policemen and nightclub DJs who fight with music. The quirky characters, and strategic, team-based gameplay, have caused “League” to surge in popularity since its 2009 launch.
Patty Newburger, Executive Vice President of Event Strategy and Operations at Tribeca Enterprises, explained how “League” was chosen as the focus of this inaugural event.
“Tribeca Games grew out of an inspiration from Jane Rosenthal, who is our founder, but also a well-known film producer. When you do a film, there are costumes, there’s a script, and there is music. When you look at the game ‘League of Legends,’ they are also telling a story.”
Newburger pointed out how the game uses the same sort of musical composition, costume design and character development that one would expect from a movie and that “Jane believed that there was a real synergy. So we created Tribeca Games to continue storytelling…We are delving into the game, and how they tell their story.” Panels were held throughout the day, where members of “League” developer, Riot Games, spoke about the process of designing the game.
Riot Games has cultivated a global fanbase, and the fans had the chance to meet the developers at Tribeca Games, which was held at Spring Studios. It was a relatively quiet setting compared to video game conventions like the Penny Arcade Expo, which can have over 100,000 attendees.
“One of the great things about today is that the fans and players have a time to interact with the creators,” said Newburger. “Normally they’re going to a tournament where they’re playing the game, or watching the game be played. Here is a time to really talk to the people that put the game together.”
“League” Design Director Greg Street said. “We really enjoy these smaller venues that can be more intimate, and you can have a one-on-one interaction with attendees, instead of a stadium situation where you’re speaking down like you’re a rock star or something.” And the team at Riot Games are rock stars in the gaming business, with up to 67 million players logging into “League” each month.
“League” has such a huge following that tens of millions of viewers will watch other people play championship matches, and these competitions can fill venues like Madison Square Garden. Although fans could simply watch from home, Street points out that “Much of ‘League’ is about the community. That it is infectious, in a good way, to be sitting in a crowded amphitheater, cheering for your team with all your friends, when a big play happens.”
Even though Riot Games has grown into an influential force in gaming, they had humble roots as an independent game developer. They shared their experience with the next generation of would-be game developers at Tribeca Games.
“A lot of the panels have been a behind the scenes look at how the artists create the characters in the game, or how game designers think about the rules of the game,” said Street. “We have a lot of students here that are interested in getting into that field, who want to know what it’s really like.”
“It’s a weird industry to get into,” according to Street. “It’s not like you go to medical school, you get your medical license, you become a doctor…You don’t necessarily need a degree from a game design school to make games.”
Aside from the panels, fans could mingle with each other in a lounge that featured curated exhibits of artwork made by fellow fans of the game, along with a display of “cosplay” — fans dressed in homemade recreations of the outfits worn by in-game characters.
Tribeca Games (tribecafilm.com/tribecagames) will have more gaming content when the Tribeca Film Festival returns in 2016. “League of Legends” can be downloaded and played for free on Windows and Macintosh computers. Visit leagueoflegends.com.
