League of Legends
League of Legends
The best LoL Champions Queue streamers to watch for Worlds 2022
William Davis
Champions Queue is back and streamers have plenty of reason to showcase their gameplay before the start of Worlds 2022. Champions Queue is meant to be a pros-only environment where the very best League of Legends players from all over the world battle it out. It succeeds as a Worlds training ground, but it also produces some of the highest-level gameplay of the year. If you’re looking for LoL streamers …
League of Legends
Danny steps away from Evil Geniuses roster during LCS playoffs
Tokoni Uti
Evil Geniuses AD carry Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki has stepped down from the team’s starting roster, just days ahead of a massive series against 100 Thieves in the 2022 LCS Summer Playoffs. The news was broken by EG CEO Nicole LaPointe Jameson in an announcement on Twitter, confirming that the player “will not be competing at this weekend’s LCS Summer Split Finals in Chicago.” She went on to credit Danny’s “courage …
League of Legends
TSM cuts Spica after failing to clinch Worlds 2022 berth
Tokoni Uti
TSM has released jungler Mingyi “Spica” Lu, shortly after wiping out in the 2022 LCS Summer Playoffs, bringing a strange and sudden end to his time with the organization. Spica himself announced the termination of his contract on Twitter, making him an early free agent who will now be able to negotiate with teams ahead of November’s free agency period. The release of a player before the free agency period …
League of Legends
G2 Esports signs all-female League of Legends team, G2 Hel
Olivia Richman
G2 Esports has just acquired an all-female League of Legends roster to expand its footprint in the scene. G2 Esports recently signed G2 Gozen, an all-female Valorant roster. The esports organization decided its next all-female team would be in League of Legends. On September 1, G2 announced that it had signed Burger Flippers, one of the top women’s LoL teams in Europe. G2 Hel was formerly known as Burger Flippers. …
League of Legends
LoL Worlds trophy to be redesigned by Tiffany & Co.
Tokoni Uti
The League of Legends World Championship trophy, most recently hoisted by EDward Gaming, will undergo a redesign led by luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co. The Summoner’s Cup is the ultimate trophy in League of Legends esports. Created by Thomas Lyte, the company claims that its production took over 300 hours with a team of eight people. It’s an icon of the game’s history, but it’s getting a makeover after the …
League of Legends
These classic fighting mechanics are confirmed for Project L
William Davis
Project L will put a brand new spin on many of the fighting game genre’s most beloved mechanics. But some traditional mechanics will also be making a return in the new title from Riot Games. Executive producer Tom Cannon and technical lead Tony Cannon have already spoiled Project L fans with early previews, and fans are eager to glean as much info from them as possible. Based on the handful …
League of Legends
Which League of Legends champions could be added to Project L?
Fariha Bhatti
Not all League of Legend champions are equally viable for a fighting game, but many could make great additions to Project L. League of Legends has over 150 Champions that are all useful in specific roles and situations. Some characters work best as a support while others can take over the game with good backup. Project L follows the same beat, emphasizing two-on-two tag combat in Riot’s first fighting game …
League of Legends
T1 CEO apologizes for inappropriate comments about Oner
Olivia Richman
T1 CEO Joe Marsh has taken a salary cut to prove he’s sorry for making inappropriate comments about Mun “Oner” Hyeon-jun. Marsh apologized to League of Legends fans earlier this week, announcing that he’d also be taking a six-month salary cut. A translation of his lengthy TwitLonger reads that Marsh has asked the community to forgive him for his “wrongdoings.” On T1’s Discord server, Marsh and some T1 employees disclosed …
Team Liquid introduces Pro Lab to Alienware Training Facility
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Team Liquid has revealed its new Alienware Training Facility today, showcasing new tech and creative spaces. Team Liquid has been working on restructuring and redesigning its Alienware Training Facility for a few years and revealed the new look on August 16. The facility was split up into two areas, one side for esports and the other an open office. On the esports side, Team Liquid built two large scrimming spaces …
Has Riot Games removed your Valorant and LoL account?
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends
Can’t log in to your long-forgotten League of Legends or Valorant account? Riot Games likely removed your account in a mass delete wave. Riot Games has numerous game titles, but League of Legends and Valorant are the most popular ones. Due to their peaking fame, the two games have many bad actors who create new accounts to tinker with ranks. Few hackers utilize their main accounts to employ third-party software, …
All of the biggest changes coming in the 2023 LoL Preseason
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
There’s still plenty of 2022 left to go, but League of Legends’ 2023 Preseason is quickly approaching. Following the LoL World Championship each year, major gameplay changes are introduced to League of Legends. These can include flashy changes like adding new dragons and overhauling the map, to smaller changes to how stats work and abilities interact. The next preseason will have a mix of both, with a number of champion …
Will Project L have motion inputs? Here’s what we know
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends fighting game Project L may break new ground in fighting games, but could motion inputs may get in the way of all the innovation? Ever since the very first fighting game series, motion inputs have been a staple of fighting games. However, the system takes time to master and is sometimes considered a significant barrier to entry. So will Project L get rid of motion inputs for …
These are all of Project L’s confirmed playable characters
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
Project L has a number of League of Legends champions that have already been confirmed as playable characters for the upcoming fighting game. The idea of a League of Legends fighting game has been floating around for several years now, but details have only slipped out on rare occasions. There’s still visible forward progress when it comes to Project L, including with the number of champions that will be playable …
A strange revive bug brings LCK players back to life mid-match
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
An LCK regular season match between DRX and Nongshim RedForce was paused due to an unusual bug that saw some players instantly revive after being killed. Game one of the best-of-three series was being led by DRX before a dragon teamfight at 35 minutes. During the scuffle, support Cho “BeryL” Geon-hee lost his life as Amumu only to instantly respawn at his team’s fountain. BeryL quickly pinged in confusion and …
Illaoi added to the roster of LoL fighting game Project L
Fariha Bhatti
League of Legends
Riot Games has unveiled a brand new fighter for its upcoming League of Legends fighting game Project L. Kraken Priestess Illaoi will join Ahri, Darius, Ekko, Jinx, and Katarina on the roster. Project L was initially revealed in 2019 when Riot Games was still in an early stage of development. Since the announcement, the developer has made plenty of progress, unveiling a handful of champions from League of Legends as …
Project L dev confirms game is free-to-play before Evo 2022
William Davis
League of Legends
Like many other Riot titles, the League of Legends-themed fighting game Project L will be completely free to play at launch. Riot Games developer Tom Cannon has released a new update on the development of Project L. The team-based fighter has been absent from the spotlight since 2021 but a new video showed off new features. Most importantly, it confirmed rumors that Project L will be free-to-play. This announcement comes …
Misfits is leaving the LEC and LoL esports, here’s what we know
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
The 2023 LEC season will look a bit different, as the Misfits organization has confirmed that it is transferring its franchise spot to Team Heretics. Misfits is set to downsize significantly, with the organization set to leave League of Legends entirely. This includes its LEC franchise as well as the Misfits Premier academy team in the LFL. The name and branding will remain in place through the end of the …
LoL Worlds 2022 date, cities, and schedule revealed
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
The date, format, schedule, and locations for Worlds 2022 have finally been confirmed. After repeated difficulties due to travel restrictions and other related issues, League of Legends esports fans finally know when and where the game’s 12th pro season will end. Riot Games has given a full breakdown of the Worlds 2022 schedule and confirmed which cities will host the festivities. Worlds 2022 is headed to North America and unfortunately, …
LEC will send 4 teams to Worlds 2022, and this is why
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
International League of Legends esports events have struggled with bringing together full lineups of teams in recent years. That will again be the case at Worlds 2022, but things will at least be sorted in advance this time around, much to the delight of LEC team and their fans. Riot Games gave LoL fans an update on the season-ending event, detailing the event’s structure and format. Though much of this …
LCS teams with Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
The LCS is set for an interesting partnership with HBO Max to promote upcoming Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon. More than any other esport, League of Legends has been able to attract non-endemic brands to sponsor its events. The latest example of this is HBO plugging upcoming dark fantasy series House of the Dragon on LoL’s esports North American programming. Starting with week five of the 2022 …
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.
