League of Legends
League of Legends
K/DA pop stars come to rhythm game Beat Saber
William Davis
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 …
League of Legends
SK Telecom T1’s new roster has mixed debut in Korea
William Davis
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
Here’s where Riot’s next three World Championships will be
William Davis
Riot Games has revealed the destinations for the next three League of Legends World Championship events. After facing criticism in 2018 due to the delay in sharing the World Championship dates and locations, Riot has announce in advance the venues for the next three World Championship. 2019 – Europe After four years, the world’s biggest League of Legends competition returns to the old continent. Europe will host the game’s most …
League of Legends
Riot and Marvel partner for new Ashe comic book series
gabhernandez
Riot Games has partnered with Marvel Comics to produce an official League of Legends graphic novel. The first issue of Ashe: Warmonger released online December 19, with physical copies to be made available for purchase in May of 2019. The series is written by Odin Austin Shafer and illustrated by Nina Vakueva The story depicts the lore behind Ashe, one of League of Legends’ champion original champions and a frequent …
World champion jungler Ambition retires from pro play
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Jungler Kang “Ambition” Chan-Yong has retired from professional League of Legends. The Korean player announced the move on a personal stream on Twitch, saying that he was hanging up his gloves rather than looking for a new home for the 2019 season. “It’s retirement,” Ambition said. “I have settled on retirement. I am so sorry and grateful.” He went on to clarify that this was not prompted by plans to …
SandBox Network acquires new LCK team
William Davis
League of Legends
SandBox Network will enter the biggest League of Legends stage in Korea after acquiring the roster and LCK spot of Team BattleComics. Team BattleComics earned its spot after defeating MVP in the LCK 2019 Spring Promotion series. The team was founded in 2017 and started competing in Challengers Korea during the 2017 spring split. The roster has now been acquired by SandBox, giving the team new official backing. SandBox Network …
A world champion hopes to elevate OpTic in 2019
William Davis
League of Legends
OpTic Gaming are hoping that a former world champion can help the team turn over a new leaf in the LCS. OpTic announced the signing of former world champion Lee “Crown” Min-ho, where he’ll join recent acquisitionsWilliam “Meteos” Hartman and Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett. After an underwhelming year, OpTic Gaming is making big moves. The team announced Crown as the new starting mid laner for the 2019 season. Crown won the …
PowerOfEvil and Wiggily lead CLG’s rebound charge
gabhernandez
League of Legends
Counter Logic Gaming is looking to shake things up after failing to make playoffs in both the spring and summer splits of 2018. CLG’s biggest offseason change is the acquisition of Tristan “PowerOfEvil” Schrage in the mid lane. PowerOfEvil made his name in the EU LCS during his time on Misfits. One of his biggest achievements came during the 2017 World Championship, where PowerOfEvil led his team to take SK …
Riot Games COO suspended for workplace harassment
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games COO Scott Gelb has received a two-month unpaid suspension following an investigation into allegations of inappropriate workplace behavior. Gelb has become a controversial figure at Riot Games over the past few months. Several former and current Riot employees have recently alleged that Gelb has repeatedly farted on, humped, and and appropriately touched fellow employees for comedic effect. An investigation by a third-party law firm began earlier this year …
Origen reloads for return to top European competition
William Davis
League of Legends
Origen is returning to the LEC in 2019 with a roster full of European stars. Spanish organization Origen is back in the LEC. The team and brand were acquired by Astralis’ parent company RFRSH Entertainment in November. After having fallen out of the top tier of European competition in 2016, the team is again ready to compete at the top. Barney “Alphari” Morris is taking over the top lane. Alphari …
TSM hopes to rebound with Broken Blade and Smoothie
William Davis
League of Legends
Team SoloMid will look to recapture past glory with new members Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik and Andy “Smoothie” Ta. TSM is making big changes heading into 2019 in the LCS. After a mediocre year, the organization is hoping to reclaim their place as the most successful team in North America. Top laner Broken Blade previously played with Turkish side Royal Bandits. The team was a frequent contender in the TCL, …
Nisqy signing shows Cloud9’s roster building commitment
William Davis
League of Legends
Cloud9 is hoping that a new European mid laner will prove the perfect replacement for Nicolaj “Jensen” Jensen. Cloud9 surprised fans when the organization announced that Jensen would be leaving the team to join Team Liquid. Jensen joined Cloud9 in 2015 and was considered one of the star players for the team. In his place, the squad will bring on Yasin “Nisqy” Dinçer. Nisqy is returning to North America after …
Golden Guardians retool with Hauntzer, Froggen, Olleh
gabhernandez
League of Legends
Golden Guardians have undergone a promising roster overhaul after taking last place in both splits of the 2018 season. In the top lane, the Guardians picked up Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell from TSM. Hauntzer was well known for his dominance as a native top laner against top lane imports such as Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon. Hauntzer’s skill proved itself out even among star teammates like Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg and Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng. Unfortunately, …
Deft, Pawn, TusiN replenish Kingzone DragonX
William Davis
League of Legends
Kingzone DragonX will be starting three new players in 2019 after the departure of its starting roster. New faces are joining Kingzone DragonX for the new LCK season. Former KT Rolster players Heo “PawN” Won-seok and Kim “Deft” Hyuk-kyu are joined by former Afreeca Freecs support Park “TuSin” Jong-ik as now members of the team. The organization shared the news through social media after it was confirmed that Gwak “BDD” Bo-seong and …
New champion Neeko brings subterfuge to League
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games has revealed its newest champion, Neeko, the curious chameleon. Riot has hinted that an upcoming champion could disguise itself and trick the enemies, the developer did not disappoint the fans. ABILITIES Neeko’s passive, Inherent Glamour, is what really sets her apart. She can disguise herself as an allied champion, including a fake health bar representing that ally’s current health. The illusion lasts until she casts Blooming Burst (Q) …
Cloud9, Overwatch, and Fortnite win at The Game Awards
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends
Overwatch, Fortnite, and League of Legends were among the big winners at the 2018 Game Awards. The Game Awards is the largest annual game awards ceremony in the video game industry. A panel of more than 60 experts nominated over 100 games for various awards, including multiple esports titles. Blizzard’s FPS Overwatch was named “Esports Game of the Year” after being nominated alongside Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Dota 2, Fortnite, and …
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
League of Legends
League of Legends
League of Legends
