Tencent developing in-house League of Legends plugin, looking to shut down third-party options?

Chinese League of Legends players have for some time now been making use of third-party game plugins that facilitate playing the game by doing things like altering its UI or helping players keep track of the various spawn and spell timers in the game. (While they don’t alter the actual gameplay itself, these plugins are not allowed during competitive play). But now, Chinese gaming site 17173 is reporting that Tencent, LoL‘s publisher in China, is working on an in-house plugin that might end up putting third-party plugins out of business.

The Tencent plugin, which is called ‘League of Legends official helper’, will integrate directly with Tencent’s game platform, making it extremely convenient for China-based players. It includes a variety of features (including numerous timers) that were previously available only via third-party solutions, and has already begun small-scale public testing. There’s no word yet on an official release date, but with a first-party solution that addresses so many of gamers’ wants, it seems third-party plugins could be cut out of China’s LoL scene almost entirely.

Whether or not that’s good news depends on whether you’re Tencent or a third-party plugin creator, of course. Gamers aren’t likely to care too much one way or the other, so long as Tencent’s plugin does what it claims it can and effectively replaces the functionality of many of the most popular third party plugins. It’s definitely good news for Tencent, though, as it keeps the company’s LOL gamers away from third-party companies, and gives Tencent more control over what’s happening in the game itself.

(via 17173)