Back in 2014, Super Evil Megacorp launched Vainglory, a mobile multiplayer online battle arena game featuring streamlined three-on-three battles on a simple one lane map. On February 13 the game updates to Vainglory 5V5, bringing it closer to both its PC cousins and its main competitor, Tencent’s Arena of Valor.
Super Evil Megacorp is calling Vainglory 5v5 “no compromises core gaming” for mobile devices. With its newly beefed-up graphics engine (capable of running at 120 FPS on the Razer Phone) it looks like a PC game. And with two teams of five squaring off on a map with three lanes and various jungle farming points, it’ll play like a PC game as well, albeit with a lot more touching and people hunching over tablets.
Super Evil Megacorp is also teaming up with ESP Gaming, giving Vainglory Esports, now called Vainglory Premier League, a new home in Las Vegas. ESP Gaming has produced high-profile events like the X-Games and the World Series of Poker, so Vainglory 5V5's competitive scene is getting an upgrade as well.
The whole reason I enjoyed playing Vainglory in the first place was it was so unlike games like League of Legends or DOTA 2, but there’s only so much strategic depth one can squeeze from a single lane and tiny jungle. I’m looking forward to seeing what my favorite characters can do given extra room to stretch their legs and more enemy players to pounce on.