When it comes to amusement parks, Disney Land is still the place-to-go. But what if there were League of Legends-themed parks? After all, League developer Riot Games boasts 100 million monthly players. About 85 percent of them are between the age of 16 to 30. The audience is already there.
Riot Games owner Tencent is ready to give it a try. The Chinese company announced it’s building a “gaming city” in cooperation with the city of Wuhu last week. Tencent’s plan includes an esports theme park, an esports university, a cultural and creative park, an animation industrial park, a creative block, a tech entrepreneurial community, and a cloud data center.
What does all that mean? We don’t know for sure, yet. The details about the project remain sparse. In fact, the company hasn’t even released a timeframe for the project. And while an esports university and other details sound intriguing, a theme park built by the world’s largest gaming company is surely what excites League of Legends fans. That park could very well be packed with Poros, Yordles, and Tibbers.
Just imagine the attractions. Both Taliyah’s and Rek’Sai’s ultimate would make a great rollercoaster ride, for example. The likes of Fiddlesticks, Nocturne, and Kalista could scare the hell out of you in a ghost train. And don’t forget about the good old ring-the-bell with Poppy’s hammer, twice the size of your body.
League‘s esports history is good for some amusement as well. Actors could perform Faker’s brilliant outplay versus Ryu in their Zed mirror match or Insec’s crazy Lee Sin kick versus Yellowpete. Visitors could replay and feel the most iconic moments like xPeke’s backdoor on a life-size Summoner’s Rift—or just hide in the Fnatic brush all day long, like little satan Teemo does.
For now, however, Tencent’s plan isn’t much more than an announcement. If done right, however, this park could pave the way for esports-themed parks around the world.
