League of Legends
League of Legends
Riot Games announces new global head of League of Legends esports
Olivia Richman
Riot Games announced John Needham as the company’s new Global Head of League of Legends Esports earlier today. “John’s global experience, track record with our regional esports leagues, and true passion for gaming will accelerate the evolution of League of Legends into one of the leading sports and entertainment properties in the world,” Riot Games CEO Nicolo Laurent said. As Riot’s esports aspirations continue to grow, Laurent continued, they are …
League of Legends
League of Legends Clash plans are finally revealed by Riot Games
gabhernandez
Riot designer Jon Moorman has finally announced Riot’s future plans for Clash. Following recent test cancellations, Moorman stated that the long-awaited game mode is still under maintenance and noted that significant changes are coming. He also offered a more concrete development plan alongside some rough ideas about its release. In a lengthy post about what problems Clash has faced and the steps Riot is taking to fix them, Moorman bulleted …
League of Legends
Cloud9 open summer split 2-0 after breezing past Clutch Gaming
William Davis
Cloud9 closed week one in the LCS undefeated with a victory over Clutch Gaming. The win cemented Cloud9’s place as one of the strongest contenders in the LCS and showed that the team’s offseason boot camp in South Korea was time well spent. For its game against Clutch, Cloud9 chose to return to the Sona and Taric combination. Clutch Gaming’s Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon took a page out of Martin “Wunder” …
League of Legends
Rift Rivals NA vs EU details are set, to take place in Los Angeles
Nina Forneloza
Top League of Legends teams from North America and Europe will face off at Rift Rivals 2019 from June 27 to 29. The LEC vs. LCS tournament will be hosted in Los Angeles in the LCS studio for the second consecutive year. Team Liquid, Team SoloMid, and Cloud9 will compete against G2 Esports, Fnatic, and Origen for the title. Fnatic claimed victory last year and will look to retain its …
League of Legends
Fantasy LCS and LEC postponed beyond the 2019 Summer Split
Steven Rondina
Fantasy esports is growing rapidly and League of Legends fans are being left out in the cold. LCS commissioner Chris Greeley announced that fantasy services for the LCS and LEC will not be returning for the 2019 Summer Split. The decision comes due to developer Riot Games’ inability to secure a partner to create a new fantasy game, and the company’s inability to develop one on its own. “The solve …
League of Legends
The history of Clash, Riot’s ill-fated attempt at player tournaments
gabhernandez
Clash, one of Riot’s most anticipated projects ever, is now one year past its intended release date and continues to be postponed. In December 2017, the Clash game mode was first revealed to the public through the annual wrap-up “Riot Pls.” The idea of a competitive environment available to players of any rank grabbed many people’s attention. There were no signs of trouble heading into the intended May 2018 release …
League of Legends
Volibear and Fiddlesticks win fan vote, to receive big updates
William Davis
The votes are in, and champions Volibear and Fiddlesticks are the winners of a fan vote determining which champions would be getting a new look in 2020. In the month of May, Riot Games opened a public fan vote to help decide which champions would be receiving a comprehensive update in 2020. The options available for voting were Shyvana, Dr. Mundo, Nocturne, Fiddlesticks, and Volibear. Originally, the plan was to …
League of Legends
Patch 9.11 hits League of Legends, reverting Zac and nerfing Akali
William Davis
League of Legends patch 9.11 has arrived and with it comes a significant revert to the rift’s big green giant, Zac. The Riot Games balance team reworked the bouncing blob in 2017 during patch 7.9, when several of Zac’s abilities were replaced including his ultimate, Let’s Bounce. The new ability had Zac squish himself down, scoop up enemies in his area of effect, and carry them to a target location. …
League of Legends announces team and fan passes for summer split
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends has announced team and fan passes for the 2019 Summer Split. And they’re both available tomorrow. The two new viewing experiences will reward LoL players with new ways to support their favorite pro teams and show off their esports fandom. In the past, Riot Games offered esports-themed items for major events, like the Mid-Season Invitational and the World Championship, but this will be the first time that …
Rick Fox revealed to be one of the worst League players in NA
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends
Former NBA star and current Echo Fox co-owner Rick Fox appears to be struggling when it comes to actually playing League of Legends, as he is currently the 98th lowest ranked player in all of North America. This revelation comes from a Reddit user who took a look at Fox’s account in the ranking system and did the math to figure out that there are only 97 players with a …
Kingzone DragonX’s PawN skipping summer split due to health issues
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Kingzone DragonX’s midlaner Heo “PawN” Won-seok will not be playing in the 2019 LCK Summer Split. The rest from competing is for PawN’s health, which has continued to worsen during the latest offseason period. After consulting with the coaching staff, PawN decided to take the season off due to these health concerns. “During the post-season vacation, his health deteriorated,” the team said. “Prior to making such a tough decision, PawN made …
Mordekaiser to receive the rework fans have long waited for
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Riot has recently revealed a much anticipated rework for veteran champion Mordekaiser. Along with sharing his new and updated abilities being made available on the League of Legends website, developer Riot Games has published a behind-the-scenes style YouTube video detailing the process behind the redesign. With over one million views already, the video discusses how the developers go about these champion reworks. According to game designer Justin Hanson, when it …
Pro View comes to League of Legends, offers new ways to watch games
Nina Forneloza
League of Legends
With the start of the League of Legends 2019 Summer Split, fans will be able to purchase a new streaming service from Riot Games. Pro View will be available for a one-time payment of $14.99 in either USD or Euros. Users will then be able to access the new Pro View streaming function throughout the split, all the way to the beginning of the World Championship. The initial release will …
Infinite Esports reportedly owes $20 million prior to Immortals sale
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
It was reported earlier this month that Immortals Gaming Club will most likely acquire Infinite Esports, the parent company of OpTic Gaming. This was in response to Texas Esports looking to sell its stake of Infinite Esports for at least $150 million in January. Since then, Immortals has been in a bidding war with Chris Chaney and Hector “Hecz” Rodriguz. While this could possibly provide a way for Immortals to …
Rogue promotes 17-year-old Inspired to LEC roster for summer split
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends
Rogue is currently overhauling its LEC roster for the upcoming summer split, and the latest addition is 17-year-old jungler Kacper “Inspired” Słoma. Inspired previously played for Ultraliga team Rogue Esports Club, which is the developmental academy-styled team in the Rogue organizational heirarchy. Inspired has impressed in his performance with the team, and with Rouge having such a poor start to its time in the LEC, he has been promoted to …
TSM to use both Akaadian and Grig during the 2019 LCS Summer Split
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends
Team SoloMid has announced that for the 2019 LCS Summer Split both Jonathan “Grig” Armao and Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham will play on the starting roster, splitting time as the team’s primary jungler. At the start of the 2019 season, TSM expected Grig to be the starting jungler for the team with Akaadian playing on the academy team. However, Grig developed a pain in his wrist that got progressively worse, eventually …
SKT T1 Blank signs with Sengoku Gaming for the LJL Summer Split
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
SK Telecom T1’s jungler Kang “Blank” Sun-gu is joining Sengoku Gaming for the 2019 LJL Summer Split. In an official press release, Sengoku Gaming said the organization was pleased to announce the addition to its League of Legends team. “Blank has been a member of the prestigious team SKT T1 in the past, has much experience winning world championships, and has a world championship skin of his favorite champion. We …
100 Thieves co-owner Dan Gilbert hospitalized for stroke symptoms
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
100 Thieves co-owner Dan Gilbert was recently hospitalized with stroke-related symptoms. Early Sunday morning, the Cleveland Cavaliers owner was checked into the Royal Oak Beaumont Hospital. Being from Detroit, Gilbert’s hospitalization was covered by The Detroit News, who got a statement from Quicken Loans, of which Gilbert is founder and chairman. “He received immediate medical attention and is currently recovering comfortably. Our collective thoughts and prayers are with Dan for …
Cody Sun will be joining Clutch Gaming for the LCS Summer Split
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Clutch Gaming mid laner Tanner “Damonte” Damonte revealed that Cody Sun will be the team’s AD carry starting the first week of the LCS Summer Split. “Scrimming with Cody has been great. He’s a very, very good player who also has a great head on his shoulders,” Damonte said in an interview with Travis Gafford. Clutch Gaming has yet to officially announce the signing, although the organization hinted at Cody Sun’s …
Team Liquid owner compares value of esports team with major sports
Nina Forneloza
League of Legends
The owner of two prominent NBA and NHL teams has made clear that his esports organization is now more valuable than one of his major sports properties once was. Ted Leonsis is the owner of Team Liquid, the Washington Wizards NBA franchise, and the NHL’s Washington Capitals franchise. Leonsis has recently announced that the Team Liquid esports organization, which covers multiple titles including League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota …
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
SKT Telecom T1 start summer with narrow win over Jin Air Green Wings
By
William Davis
League of Legends
G2 crush Splyce in return to Europe after 2019 MSI championship
By
William Davis
League of Legends
Immortals positioned to return to LCS with buyout of OpTic Gaming
By
Steven Rondina
