League of Legends
League of Legends
China declares esports an official career path
Olivia Richman
Esports has officially been accepted as a career path in China. The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China added “esports operators” and “esports professionals” to its growing list of approved career paths. The ministry described an “esports professional” as someone who competes in tournaments, performs in events, and trains with other pro players. It also lists a Chinese term that translates to “account boosting” as one of …
League of Legends
The latest League patch is a love letter to ADCs
Olivia Richman
League of Legend’s 9.3 patch notes are a love letter to ADCs, delivered just in time for Valentine’s Day. ADCs have felt a little neglected in the current mea, and Riot has promised change. Riot is giving the ADCs in their life some crit item changes to help them cope with the burst damage carries now frequently run into. Infinity Edge was reworked with an added extra 25 percent chance …
League of Legends
Cloud9 star Sneaky reveals another revealing cosplay
Olivia Richman
Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi’s gender-bending cosplay has the League of Legends community afire. The Cloud9 bot laner couldn’t wait until the summer to show off his latest Swimsuit Ahri cosplay on Twitter. The photos, which perfectly hid his bare bottom with a well-placed emoji, are among many available on Sneaky’s official Patreon. Many of Sneaky’s League of Legends-inspired cosplays are available as signed and customized polaroids through his Patreon, which currently …
League of Legends
Wrapping up changes for League of Legends ranked Season 9
Jared Wynne
League of Legends players are gearing up for the latest season of ranked play in the popular MOBA. As is the case every year, the new season comes with new content and big changes to the game. Season 9’s New Ranked System Riot has added two new ranks: Iron and Grandmaster. Iron is placed before Bronze, and Grandmaster is placed in between Master and Challenger. In addition, Division V has …
League of Legends
Doublelift protects his throne, Liquid dominate 100 Thieves
William Davis
Team Liquid dominated its first highly anticipated match against 100 Thieves and consolidated itself as the sole leader atop the LCS. The match between the defending champions at Liquid and a newly retooled 100 Thieves created high expectations in the community. It was the first time that Yilliang “Doublelift” Peng would face two-time world champion Bae “Bang” Jun-sik on the LCS stage. 100 Thieves surprised in the picks and bans …
League of Legends
MSI is coming to Vietnam and Taiwan
Olivia Richman
The 2019 Mid-Season Invitational is heading to Vietnam and Chinese Taipei for the first time in its history. Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi will be home to the play-in stage and group stage. Taipei will host the semifinals and finals. The move was made to acknowledge the region’s growing interest in League of Legends and esports in general. Vietnam was announced as a new competitive region for League of …
League of Legends
Broadcast error reveals LCK team’s strategies
William Davis
Riot Games accidentally leaked team strategies for pro team Jin Air Green Wings during a recent LCK broadcast. During an early season bout between pro League teams Jin Air Green Wings and SK Telecom T1, an unfortunate camera shot leaked Jin Air’s pick and ban strategies. The camera captured a clear shot of the notebook held by assistant coach Choi “Alvingo” Byeong-cheol. The notes included the strategies the team intended …
League of Legends
Auto giant Honda to sponsor Team Liquid
gabhernandez
Team Liquid has announced an official automobile partnership with Honda. More and more, the world’s biggest companies are getting involved in the esports industry. One of the most prolific partner industries for professional esports organizations has been the automobile industry. In 2018, Mercedez-Benz announced that the automobile giant would be expanding its partnership with ESL One through 2020. This year, Honda will be the global mobility partner for Team Liquid. …
Jensen leads Liquid over former Cloud9 teammates
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s win over Cloud9 in the first game of the 2019 LCS season was a bit more personal this time around. Liquid’s newly acquired mid laner Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen showed no signs of holding back against his old teammates. His loyalty to Liquid was made clear at the start of the match as he chased down and killed his replacement at Cloud9, Yasin “Nisqy” Dincer. Jensen and the rest of …
Prestige skins in League of Legends spur backlash
gabhernandez
League of Legends
Some League of Legends fans and players are none too happy about the reintroduction of Prestige skins to the game. The Prestige line of skins was first seen with Prestige K/DA Kai’Sa. After its relatively welcome reception, Riot added a Prestige K/DA Akali skin to the mix. Riot had since announced the continuation of the Prestige skin line, with different means of obtaining the skins to be offered. As opposed …
Pro League team to train at one of Europe’s biggest stadiums
William Davis
News
ExceL Esports has announced Twickenham Stadium as the location for its training facility in 2019. ExceL is making big moves in 2019, as the organization that was recently chosen to compete in the LEC, formerly known as the EU LCS. The fourth-largest European stadium is located in southwest London. With a seating capacity of 82,000, the location will be opening its doors to esports competitors for the first time. The ExceL …
Twitch Rivals is Riot’s next step in supporting entertainers
gabhernandez
League of Legends
Continuing an ongoing trend of renewed community outreach, Riot Games has launched the Twitch Rivals tournament, a contest featuring some of League of Legends’ most beloved personalities as they compete for a $75,000 prize pool. The event will feature a bracket of 16 teams competing in best-of-three series play, with each game using “blind pick” rules, allowing one-trick players to use their signature champions without fear of bans. Famed content …
YoungBuck comes on as Fnatic’s new League coach
William Davis
League of Legends
European organization Fnatic announced that former team director Joey “YoungBuck” Steltenpool would be assuming the role of head coach in the upcoming LEC split. The defending regional champions will return with a new man in charge as YoungBuck is taking over the head coaching position formerly occupied by Dylan Falco. YoungBuck first joined Fnatic in January 2018 as a team director. He previously worked with G2 Esports and Enemy as …
Riot boasts huge 2018 viewership numbers
William Davis
League of Legends
2018 was a big year for League of Legends, and the numbers bear that out. The year’s international play began with the Mid-Season Invitational in Berlin, where 14 regional champions fought for the first international title of the year. More than 60 million unique viewers watched the final between the LCK’s Kingzone DragonX and the LPL’s Royal Never Give Up. The success of the event would carry forward through the …
Sylas unshackles and heads to League of Legends
William Davis
League of Legends
The newest League of Legends champion has been revealed, and his ultimate ability is stealing more than just our attention. Sylas was unveiled in his own character trailer which featured new champion’s gameplay kit. It is expected that he will best thrive as a laning AP bruiser. Sylas is a former Demacian mage hunter who was locked away after a series of murders and stealing the magic of a young …
Sales and store changes coming to League of Legends
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends is implementing an overhaul to the way sales and discounts will function in 2019. Along with all the big changes coming to ranked play in the new year, Riot Games is revamping the League of Legends shop. The game’s developer will be focusing on popular elements such as the “Your Shop” feature, event passes, and the Essence Emporium. Some aspects of the existing discount system may then …
Upcoming Korean team Griffin wins KeSPA Cup
William Davis
League of Legends
One of Korea’s youngest pro League of Legends teams defeated defeated a former World Championship team to win the KeSPA Cup. Griffin swept Gen.G to capture the squad’s first major trophy. The annual tournament finals took place on New Year’s Eve at the Sejong University Convention Hall in Seoul. Griffin took the LCK by storm in the summer split of 2018, finishing in second place. The team failed to qualify …
Invictus Gaming close year with another title
William Davis
News
Reigning world champion Invictus Gaming closed 2018 with a win at the Demacia Cup, defeating Topsports Gaming in four games. Despite its struggle to earn an LPL title, IG closed its year with a domestic victory under its belt. The road to the finals was not easy for the champions. In the fourth round, IG was upset by TOP and was forced to play in the loser’s bracket against Suning. …
K/DA pop stars come to rhythm game Beat Saber
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games is teaming up with Beat Games to bring K/DA – POP/STARS to VR rhythm game Beat Saber. The reception to League of Legend’s new k-pop girl group has been overwhelming. Waves of fanart and cosplays followed the band’s debut, and the K/DA-themed skin set was so popular that Riot released a prestige version for Akali. One particularly popular piece of fan content was an unofficially produced level for …
SK Telecom T1’s new roster has mixed debut in Korea
William Davis
League of Legends
SK Telecom T1 debuted its new roster with two wins before falling out of the KeSPA Cup 2018. SK Telecom T1 has long been one of the world’s most popular teams in League of Legends. The organization debuted its new roster with two clean victories in the KeSPA Cup 2018, beginning with a take down of APK Prince from Challengers Korea. APK Prince focused most of its attention in the …
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.
