Today's eSports titles don't always get along. Sometimes they sit uneasily next to each other as rivals rather than partners on the same journey. Riot's new promo trailer for Worlds 2014 puts the lie to that statement. Here is a celebration of all players -- all champions.
It starts with the song speaking directly to the athlete:
As a child, you would wait and watch from far away. But you always knew that you'd be the one that worked while they all played.
This is an extraordinary affirmation of the competitor's ethos. When so many parents still deny the value of eSports, reducing it to a mere game, here is Riot firing back with a statement just as vehement: "That's not true. You're 'the warriors that built this town.'"
I can't imagine a person who follows a competitive game that would not identify with these words. It is a creed put forward by Riot through their collaborators, Imagine Dragons, with supreme self confidence.
But perhaps the greatest feature of the trailer is how it embraces and uplifts not just League of Legends, but all games. Certainly the trailer refers directly to LoL through depictions of its champions and interface, but the values that the trailer espouses are nobody's monopoly. Take away those brief references and you celebrate every game, every player.
The trailer continues by showing two teams squaring off. (The time will come when you will have to rise above the best.) They sit in a dark room, their computers facing each other. When one of the winners raises his eyes above the monitor, the loser can see perfectly into them, recognizing the winner's confidence, his challenge to the opponent, who can't help but answer. (But don't weep for me, 'cause this will be the labor of my love.)
We are taken through a cheering crowd, onto a championship stage, and behind the scenes. We see players in the heat of disappointment. We see them embrace each other, all smiles. We also see them cast off their gear, sullen, and turn away. They are winners and losers both caught in the whirlwind of their game, showing us emotions they would never have felt otherwise. We feel them too.
In the final minute the players soar above the city, having risen from it. For a moment they float high above the clouds only to unite in the stadium where they will compete. They eye each other and their final goal: the trophy.
They have been elevated by their profession, and by their passion. When at last they come together for the final showdown, their meeting isn’t just about confrontation. Though they face each other, they also turn towards the crowd. The camera gives us a shot of the stadium as only the greatest tournaments have ever produced. Here is everyone, united in their love of the game.
Their game could be Counter-Strike, or Dota, or Starcraft. Esports places no restriction on human emotion. Likewise for human achievement. We can see both here, depicted in all the fierceness of their beauty. Riot is defying us to feel something other than awe, and inviting us to take part in the joy.
They built this town, and we can live in it too.
