Riot Games, the creator of the globally popular League of Legends game with 650 million players, recently made a surprising move: choosing Cat Ba, Vietnam as the backdrop for a nine-episode television series based on the League of Legends game and its online animated film, slated for release in late 2025. The episodes will be widely distributed on platforms such as Netflix, HBO, etc.
Cat Ba: A Rising Star in Global Cinematic Locations
According to Rose Lam, Global Production Director of Riot Studios, her team surveyed many countries in the region, including Japan, South Korea, and Thailand, but ultimately Vietnam proved to be the perfect fit for their creative vision. This isn't the first time Vietnam has caught the eye of international filmmakers, but being chosen over cinematic powerhouses like Japan or South Korea is a significant achievement.
Cat Ba receives high praise from Hollywood filmmakers
Anyone who has visited Cat Ba will understand why this island is the top choice for Hollywood filmmakers.
Cat Ba boasts breathtaking scenery, a harmonious blend of pristine forests, azure seas, and mysterious cave systems. Recognized by UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage site, this archipelago comprises over 360 large and small islands, forming a limestone labyrinth in the open sea, with pristine beaches, majestic cliffs, and a rare and diverse ecosystem.
More importantly, Cat Ba possesses a beauty that is both wild and mythical – perfectly aligning with the spirit of the Runeterra world in League of Legends. The vast natural landscape, towering cliffs embracing small sandy beaches, caves hidden within the island, and the clear blue waters are key factors that helped Cat Ba surpass other contenders to become the setting for the series.
The Power of Cinema in Promoting Tourism
In recent years, the number of international tourists visiting Cat Ba has grown significantly. In 2024, international tourist arrivals reached an estimated 1,056,680, a 90.5% increase year-on-year. In the first two months of 2025 alone, Cat Ba welcomed over 280,000 tourists, with international visitors accounting for approximately 180,000. Total revenue from tourism services is estimated at 257 billion VND. Becoming the setting for a blockbuster Hollywood series will undoubtedly boost this number significantly in the coming years.
Croatia, Game of Thrones filming location
We have witnessed New Zealand become a “holy land” for fans of The Lord of the Rings, or Croatia experiencing a tourism boom after becoming a filming location for Game of Thrones. In Asia, Japan has leveraged the appeal of cinema to attract tourists to locations such as Kyoto and Nara through films like Memories of a Geisha or Lost in Translation. South Korea also made its mark with the Squid Game series, making lesser-known areas like Ssangmun-dong (Seoul) a popular check-in point.
Vietnam has also had some international films shot here, but for a major entertainment brand like Riot Games to “bet” on Cat Ba is a significant turning point. If the film series achieves its expected success, not only Cat Ba but also Vietnamese tourism in general will receive a major boost on the international tourism map.
Although already an attractive destination, Cat Ba is still in the process of developing into an international tourism center. To meet the growing wave of tourists, especially international visitors, the accommodation and tourism services here are being heavily invested in, not only improving in scale but also focusing on high-class experiences, amenities, and environmental friendliness.
High-class accommodation and tourism services are being heavily invested in to make Cat Ba an international tourism center
At the Green Island central bay city – the first project developed by Sun Group in Cat Ba, from the summer of 2025, will witness the launch of an unprecedented series of high-class international culinary and entertainment experiences. The focal point of nightlife entertainment will be the world’s largest fireworks and Jet Ski show - “Symphony of the Green Island”, with a total investment of nearly VND 200 billion; VUI-Fest night market - a green market model with hundreds of stalls using entirely environmentally friendly materials; Sun Bavaria Cat Ba Gastro Pub serving all-day meals with authentic German craft beer - Sun KraftBeer and an ideal location to watch the fireworks from the show. During the day, away from the bustling experiences is the green space of the nearly 1km long Cat Ba beach, the largest on the island. The central bay area also pioneers a green lifestyle with a non-emission internal transport system, including electric buses, electric buggies, charging stations and well-established parking lots, helping visitors move easily while protecting the island’s unique ecosystem.
The appearance of Riot Games not only helps Cat Ba be promoted globally but also opens up opportunities for many other film crews. In the future, it is not impossible that many large producers will continue to choose this place to carry out film projects, helping Cat Ba tourism develop even more strongly.
