When Supercell’s Clash Royale League launched this fall, it debuted with a few unique characteristics targeted towards the mobile nature and style of the game. It streamed on YouTube instead of Twitch, for example, as Clash Royale had built up a strong community of content creators on YouTube. It also had a looser, more personality-driven tone than a lot of esports leagues, matching up with the cartoonish nature of the game itself.

Most obviously, however, it streamed in portrait orientation in North America and Europe, breaking from the usual landscape standard to better fit the way the game itself is actually played on smartphones and tablets. It was an intriguing experiment—one that worked well when watching on mobile, but was particularly awkward on TVs and computers.

And it’s an experiment that may not last into season two, as Supercell head of esports Tim Ebner suggested to The Esports Observer at last weekend’s Clash Royale League World Finals in Tokyo. Here’s what Ebner said about possible change ahead, along with reactions from the CEOs of two organizations that competed in the World Finals.

Possible Changes

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I think of the big changes, the one we’ll be thinking about is the portrait [mode].”[/perfectpullquote]

Ebner was widely positive about the reception to the first season, pointing out increased viewing times and engagement over previous Clash Royale esports efforts. However, he noted that the decision to stream in portrait orientation hadn’t gone over as well as they had hoped, at least not at first.

“I think of the big changes, the one we’ll be thinking about is the portrait [mode],” he said. “We were really excited about that, because the game is played in portrait and it seems natural to view it that way as well, but the community had mixed reactions. I think—over the course of the season—they warmed up to it, but it was a pretty drastic change at first.”

Interestingly, the Clash Royale League didn’t broadcast in portrait orientation throughout the world. Only North America and Europe opted for that approach, while streams in Latin America, China, and other regions stuck with landscape orientation. And for last weekend’s World Finals, all of the worldwide streams went with landscape over portrait, which Ebner said is due in part to technical restrictions from some regions’ streaming platforms.

Related Article: Supercell Head of Esports on Clash Royale League’s First Season and Tokyo Finals

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”You’ll notice that the World Finals is broadcast in landscape, and that’s largely because we have a global audience.”[/perfectpullquote]

“You’ll notice that the World Finals is broadcast in landscape, and that’s largely because we have a global audience and not every platform or broadcast even supports portrait,” he said. “So it wasn’t really an option for this event. That’s one we might think about for the future.”

That is no assurance of change, but the fact that the league head is openly discussing a possible move shows that Supercell is seriously considering that community feedback.

Portrait Limitations

Team Queso CEO Alvaro “Alvaro845” Gonzalez is one of the notable voices in the competitive community calling for a change to landscape orientation. He said that Queso’s experience in the League this first season was very strong, but that Supercell should learn from the limitations posed by portrait orientation.

“This season was like a test for Supercell, because they were newbies in the esports scene. For the next season, the objective should be to consolidate Clash Royale as an esport,” he said. “Maybe we’ll learn some things regarding production or some experiments we did with landscape and portrait. I have a strong opinion that landscape is way better than portrait, even if most of the audience is mobile.”

[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”One of the main disadvantages of portrait is that the faces of the players were too small.”[/perfectpullquote]

For Gonzalez, it’s more than just a matter of personal preference. He said that the player-centric content they filmed for the league just didn’t show well in the portrait-oriented broadcasts, and that made it difficult to highlight the players and their personalities.

“One of the main disadvantages of portrait is that the faces of the players were too small, so it was so difficult for teams, for us to create content around the league,” he said. “We recorded everything in the gaming houses and tried to do our best, but during the time in the match, it was impossible to have the reactions of the players. I think there is a lot more that could be done in the future.”

A Conversation Ahead

Immortals CEO Noah Whinston wasn’t in Tokyo for the World Finals, but The Esports Observer spoke with him after the event to discuss the North American organization’s first season in the league. He suggested that it’s key to listen to what the fans have to say, because regardless of Supercell’s intentions, they’re the people who are actually tuning in to watch.

[perfectpullquote align=”left” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”This season was like a test for Supercell, because they were newbies in the esports scene.”[/perfectpullquote]

“At the end of the day, my rule is to never argue with the audience. I carry that into a lot of things,” said Whinston. “In this scenario, I think ultimately there’s definitely a case to be made for it to be an alternative to the more PC-centric, horizontal viewing mode. But at the end of the day, we’re going to need to look at the feedback of the people who actually have to watch that to determine whether it’s a good fit for a game like Clash Royale.”

Whinston said that he had heard mixed reactions from players and fans, some of which was divided by whether they were longtime Clash Royale esports fans or newcomers to the scene. Ultimately, it will be Supercell’s decision to make—but with Whinston and other organization heads extolling the developer’s willingness to consult with teams on esports-related matters, it seems likely that they’ll have some say in how this unfolds for next season.

“From players and the very O.G. Clash community, it seems like they prefer horizontal mode. At the same time, I’ve seen some anecdotal feedback around newer viewers that vertical mode is just a little more easily accessible,” said Whinston. “It definitely isn’t a decision that we make independently of anybody, so it probably is going to be pending further conversation.”