League of Legends
League of Legends
LoL fan creates realistic Summoner’s Rift with Unreal Engine
Olivia Richman
Despite being one of the most popular esports titles in the entire world, League of Legends probably isn’t at the top of many lists when it comes to raw graphics power. Summoner’s Rift is a simple map that lacks a lot of modern graphical depth. It exists primarily to serve its purpose as a stage for action, with each section of the map simply offering a home to one of …
League of Legends
Perkz talks G2 role swap for LEC 2020, say it was Caps’ idea
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
During a recent Twitch stream Luka “Perkz” Perković discussed how and why he is changing roles with his teammate, Rasmus “Caps” Winther. Before the start of the 2019 season, Perkz was the star of G2 Esports’ League of Legends team. Despite being one of the best mid laners in Europe, Perkz stepped away from the role due to G2’s signing of Caps, who played mid for Fnatic and seemed to be the …
League of Legends
TFT Mobile is now set to release in the spring of 2020
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
The mobile port for Teamfight Tactics will be released in spring 2020, the game’s lead designer shared on stream. When Riot Games celebrated League of Legends’ 10-year anniversary in October, the developer shared a number of announcements with fans. Players that turn their focus towards the auto battler game mode, Teamfight Tactics, were mostly excited to hear their favorite mode is coming to smaller screens as well. Riot originally announced …
League of Legends
Rogue looks to grow presence in Poland with creation of Ultraliga
Olivia Richman
League of Legends European Championship partner Rogue has announced the creation of Ultraliga, a new competitive brand that will participate in the Polish League of Legends system. Looking to compete in EU Masters, a European League of Legends tournament for teams from all over the European continent, Rogue is one of many esports organizations wanting to have a bigger presence in Europe and to establish a deeper connection to a …
League of Legends
KeSPA Cup 2019 gets English broadcast after community backlash
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
KeSPA Cup 2019 will have an English broadcast after all, LCK caster Max “Atlus” Anderson announced. Just a few days ago, League of Legends fans were disappointed to hear KeSpa Cup 2019, a Korean tournament where the LCK 2020 rosters perform for the first time ahead of the regular season, wouldn’t have an English broadcast. But with the power of the community and the support from Korean teams T1 and Gen.G, …
League of Legends
Goku, Pikachu, other anime characters share voices with LoL champs
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
Japanese League of Legends players get to enjoy their favorite anime voice actors voicing in-game champions, featuring actors from Naruto, Dragon Ball, Pokemon, and more. When Riot Games recently announced Sett as the first upcoming champion in 2020, as well as his voice lines across all supported languages, League fans were quick to realise Sett’s voice actor is Takehito Koyasu, who is famous for his work as main antagonist Dio …
League of Legends
Esports Life Tycoon is a surprisingly accurate esports sim
Olivia Richman
You’ve accidentally starved animals in Zoo Tycoon and you’ve burned your house down in Sims. Now it’s time to create a low-tier esports team in Esports Life Tycoon. This new game by U-Play Online transforms players into the CEO of an esports team looking to win the League of Heroes championship. Train against other teams. Deal with distractions and arguments before matches. Just remember, the success belongs to your players, …
League of Legends
T1 and Gen.G push for 2019 KeSPA Cup English broadcast to return
William Davis
Gen.G and T1 have offered to cover the expenses of the 2019 KeSPA Cup English broadcast. LCK on-air talent, Max “Atlus” Anderson shared on Twitter that the Korea Esports Association decided to cut off the English broadcast and had barred them from restreaming the event. League of Legends fans were quick to react to the news, venting frustration over being denied access to the last competitive event of the year. …
Riot reveals first batch of PCS teams for inaugural season
William Davis
News
Riot Games has revealed nine of the teams that will take part in the inaugural season of the Pacific Championship Series. Earlier this year, Riot Games shared its plans to merge the LMS and the LST to create a new league known as the PCS. The LMS was home to eight teams from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. The LST brought together teams from the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and other …
Time Magazine says League of Legends is one of decade’s best games
M Alzamora
League of Legends
Riot Game’s MOBA has made Time Magazine’s list of the “10 Best Video Games of the 2010’s,” cementing its place as one of the best and most popular games of the decade. League of Legends joined nine other video games on the list published by Time Magazine. League of Legends and Epic Game’s Fortnite were the only two multiplayer games on a list dominated by single-player titles. While Riot’s flagship …
Golden Guardians reveals new logo, TFT and Apex Legends players
William Davis
Apex Legends
Golden Guardians has revealed its new brand identity and announced its expansion into multiple new esports titles. The esports branch of NBA team Golden State Warriors is expanding beyond League of Legends in 2020. Golden Guardians started as a franchise in the LCS, and now the organization has expanded into World of Warcraft, Apex Legends, and other games including Hearthstone, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra. The announcement also included …
KeSPA decides not to run English broadcast for 2019 Kespa Cup
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
League of Legends fans were disappointed to hear this year’s KeSPA Cup won’t have an English broadcast. Popular LCK caster Max “Atlus” Anderson shared on Twitter he was let know KeSPA Cup 2019 won’t run a broadcast for English speaking audience. Together with other organizers of the event, the Korean Esports Association decide to not even allow English casters to rebroadcast the tournament from their own homes, in spite of …
Sylas to receive major overhaul from Riot in LoL patch 10.1
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends season 10 is just around the corner and a number of gameplay changes are set to arrive in the game. Among them is an overhaul of Sylas that might help the champion break out of ELO hell. The unchained revolutionary has been suffering for a few patches and has a dismal 45% win rate in both jungle and mid lane roles due to his weak early game …
Best and worst offseason roster moves heading into the 2020 LCS
William Davis
League of Legends
The offseason in League of Legends is finally over, and teams have completed their starting rosters for the 2020 LCS Spring Split. This year, every team made at least one roster change, but who made the best and worst moves of the offseason? 100 Thieves won the offseason, simple as that. While most teams are trying to put together cohesive squads that have a fighting chance in the LCS 2020, …
Sugar Rush, old Snowdown Showdown skins now available in LoL store
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
The Sugar Rush event is now live in League of Legends together with new skins, chromas, summoner icons, and more. Sugar Rush is a new version of Snowdown Showdown, a winter event League players have been enjoying for the past ten years. This year, instead of being dressed as elves, Santa Claus, or reindeers, Sugar Rush skins are all about sweets. The event includes skins for Braum, Evelynn, Ziggs, and …
Dignitas Academy adds Damonte, Akaadian to impressive roster
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
The LCS off-season has been full of surprises. Former Clutch Gaming mid laner Tanner “Damonte” Damonte will be playing for Dignitas Academy in the upcoming 2020 season. The organization announced the current rosters for its LCS and Academy teams on Twitter and fans were surprised to see Damonte’s name under the list of Academy players. He was also joined by another veteran, jungler Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham. “For real, Akaadian and Damonte should …
New League of Legends client bugs have players angry with Riot
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
League of Legends players are not happy with the state of the game right now. The latest version of the client hasn’t been working well ever since it was released. While some players have been unaffected, many have had issues with FPS drops, disconnecting from games, and more. Naturally, this has resulted in a slew of players taking to social media in order to raise awareness of the troubles and …
Griffin Sword files a police report against cVmax for abuse
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
News
Griffin’s League of Legends top laner Choi “Sword” Sung-won reportedly filed a police report against his former coach, Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho, accusing him of abusive behavior, Korean News1 has reported. DragonX head coach cvMax hasn’t gotten a break from accusations and drama ever since he parted ways with Griffin. Since cvMax came out with details of player mistreatment by Griffin’s management, the story keeps getting sequels. With Riot Games now …
FunPlus Phoenix signs Khan, extends GimGoon for 2020 LPL season
Syed Mujtaba Naqvi
League of Legends
Worlds 2019 champion FunPlus Phoenix has announced that three top laners are signed for the 2020 LPL starting roster. Kim “Khan” Dong-ha, Li “xiao7” Zhong-Qi, and Kim “GimGoon” Han-saem will be sharing their time on stage. By signing Khan, promoting xiao7 from the academy team, and re-signing GimGoon for another season, FunPlus Phoenix now has a starting roster of nine players. It’s a big roster for the defending champions, but the …
Clearlove ends long pro career, transitions to head coach for EDG
William Davis
League of Legends
Fan favorite and popular jungler Ming “Clearlove” Kai has announced his transition into a coaching position within Edward Gaming. Clearlove has retired as a player and is becoming the head coach for EDG in 2020. The jungler made the change after five years spent playing for the organization. To talk about Clearlove is to talk about EDG, as he is the face of the team and the reason why so …
League of Legends
is among the most popular widely-played video games in the world. It has been a consistent trendsetter in the gaming industry, whether as a model for other free-to-play titles looking to monetize their players or as a guiding light for how professional esports can be both successful and sustainable.
It hasn’t always been so though. League of Legends was released in 2009 as an uncertain new project, a game with large aspirations but little proven. In the years since, it has developed into the dominant title that it is today, and one of the biggest games on the planet.
League of Legends drives success of MOBA genre
League of Legends stands out in part because it may arguably be the very first original game released to truly fit into what we now understand to be the increasingly
popular MOBA genre. Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas are a very particular type of game genre that carry out competition between two opposing teams of players on a map. These games test a mix of competition, tactics, and quick reactions, a potent combination that has proven equal parts popular and durable over the years.
While League of Legends was certainly among the first full releases to focus on the genre and its new ideas, it wasn’t actually the origin point for any of it. That distinction belongs to
Blizzard release WarCraft 3,
and more specifically a modified game mode titled
Defense of the Ancients.
WarCraft 3 was a real-time strategy game that featured prominent hero units who could gain in power as they accrued experience points to level up their abilities, and gold to purchase powerful items. Defense of the Ancients was a
user-made game mode
which emphasized these heroes by giving each player control over one such character and teaming them up against an opposing squad of players. It was a dynamite success, inspiring myriad clones and, eventually, an entire genre of games.
But while League of Legends wasn’t the first to bring about these concepts, it was certainly
effective in executing on them. Early developers at publisher Riot Games had a clear idea of what they wanted to accomplish with the creation of League of Legends, and it would be hard to argue against their success given the runaway popularity achieved by their iteration on the MOBA formula.
LoL incorporates esports sustainably
Just as impressive as the long-term success of League of Legends as a game is the continued success of the title’s esports scene. While esports has known multiple peaks and valleys over the years, Riot Games has consistently managed to maintain the prominence of LoL esports. This has been accomplished through an emphasis on
regular regional play
and
sustainability.
Most esports and competitive games at the time used a circuits system, scattering major tournaments for the best teams across the year. Instead, Riot divided the world into separate playing regions. Each region has its own
competitive league
in which the best professional teams play weekly. The best teams in each league are then brought together for an
annual World Championship event
at the end of the competitive year. This allowed for domestic fan followings to develop across such regions as
Korea,
China,
Europe, and
North
and
South America. Fans would closely follow the teams in their region, and from that familiarity would feel invested in cheering them on when they clashed with teams from other regions at the game’s biggest international event.
This basic blueprint has continued to prove successful for Riot Games over the years, though it has expanded and been modified with time. In response to the success of the World Championship, Riot introduced a second international tournament in 2015, the prestigious
Mid-Season Invitational. In 2025,
First Stand
was added to bring LoL esports to three international events per year. Once again the scene was enhanced and this indirectly expanded the opportunities for
League of Legends esports betting. In the meantime, the regional leagues have spread out to include
more regions and lower levels, solidifying their identity.
The basic formula remains the same, however.
Encourage fan support on a domestic level, and then carry that support and interest over to
the global stage. It’s a formula that continues to power League of Legends esports, and looks set to enable it for many years yet to come.
At Win.gg, our coverage of LoL esports spans from the broader competitive updates and their impact on the scene to in-depth high-profile match previews with team analysis, head-to-head analysis,
LoL betting odds
sense-makers and predictions. All of these based on the insights of our experienced esports journalists.
League of Legends
Riot Games Korea announces cvMax charges as DragonX coach debuts
By
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Doublelift and N0tail argue skill in League of Legends vs Dota 2
By
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Uzi injuries may force retirement as RNG battles at Demacia Cup
By
William Davis
