Worlds collided November 13th, as fans of Riot Games' hugely popular League of Legends convened at Spring Studios in Tribeca for Tribeca Games' inaugural event, The Craft and Creative of League of Legends.
Tribeca invited Riot craftsmen and artists to showcase the diverse creative processes behind the online competitive game that challenges, entertains, and inspires more than 67 million players worldwide each month. The day-long event offered aspiring game designers, veteran industry professionals, and burgeoning game craft enthusiasts the rare opportunity to go behind the curtain of Riot Games and explore Riot developers' unique approaches to building their characters, art, design, music, and stories, an invaluable, one-of-a-kind experience for any die-hard Rioter.
Through a series of five diverse and insightful panels, the event intersected the vast League of Legends universe with the film, music, and visual arts industries. Tribeca co-founder Jane Rosenthal kicked the day off with a keynote speech by explaining the connection between her company and Riot. "You may be wondering why Tribeca is presenting this event," said Rosenthal. "At Tribeca, we have a passion for stories and the creators telling them. As a producer, I've always known that some of the most creative people come from the gaming world."
The first panel, "Champion Design: Gangplank," embodied that. Three of Riot's designers—Moby Francke, Mark Yetter, and Curtis Churn—were joined on stage by Riot brand manager Janelle Jimenez and lead story writer George Krstic to break down how they've updated the muscular pirate Gangplank, a popular League of Legends character, or "champion," whose physical look and costuming were recently upgraded. He's evolved from your typical Blackbeard wannabe into an imposing and uniquely striking champ. "The reality was, Gangplank was largely forgotten, he wasn't played much, and he was a stereotype," said Jimenez. "While archetypes are good, we try to avoid stereotypes. It's the same as, you like to watch movies about gangsters, right, but not ones about gangster stereotypes. You want to watch Goodfellas because it's a great movie; it's not about gangster stereotypes."
Follow our channels to see more from The Craft and Creative of League of Legends. We are @Tribeca on Instagram, Periscope, Snapchat, and Twitter. (You can find us on Facebook here.)
Now, get a glimpse of the day's many visual highlights in the slideshow above.
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Cosplayers
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Cosplayer
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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The atmosphere at Spring Studios during TRIBECA GAMES PRESENTS THE CRAFT AND CREATIVE OF LEAGUE OF LEGENDS.
Kara Baker
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Cosplayer 9Lives Armory as Kale. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @9LivesArmory and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/9LivesArmory.
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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Shannon Berke speaks on her panel, ART DEMONSTRATION BY LEAGUE OF LEGENDS ARTISTS.
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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Tribeca Film Festival Co-founder Jane Rosenthal delivers the opening remarks.
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Artwork
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Artwork
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
Kara Baker
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Cosplayer Brianna Matheson (aka "DJ Sona")
Photo by Loren Hammonds
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Cosplayers
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Cosplayer
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Cosplayer
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Cosplayer
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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The atmosphere at Spring Studios before TRIBECA GAMES PRESENTS THE CRAFT AND CREATIVE OF LEAGUE OF LEGENDS.
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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Shannon Berke, Evan Monteiro and Josh Singh speak on their panel, ART DEMONSTRATION BY LEAGUE OF LEGENDS ARTISTS, moderated by Tad Leckman (L).
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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Shannon Berke, Evan Monteiro and Josh Singh speak on their panel, ART DEMONSTRATION BY LEAGUE OF LEGENDS ARTISTS.
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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The atmosphere at Spring Studios before TRIBECA GAMES PRESENTS THE CRAFT AND CREATIVE OF LEAGUE OF LEGENDS.
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Cosplayer
Kara Baker
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Tribeca Games attendee
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
Kara Baker
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Tribeca Games attendees Brian and John. "We live and breathe LEAGUE OF LEGENDS."
Kara Baker
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Tribeca Games attendee
Kara Baker
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Tribeca Games attendee Chrissy
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS Cosplayers
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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A LEAGUE OF LEGENDS crossplayer takes in the event.
Kara Baker
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Tribeca Games attendee Min-Young
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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LEAGUE OF LEGENDS cosplayer Brittany Cox, aka "Britt the Badger." Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @BrittTheBadger and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Britthebadger.
Photo by Craig Barritt for Getty Images
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Riot Games Art Education Director Tad Leckman moderates the panel, ART DEMONSTRATION BY LEAGUE OF LEGENDS ARTISTS.
Kara Baker
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Two-time Tribeca crew member Ari attends the event.