League of Legends
League of Legends
LoL Wild Rift voice chat is returning, but when will it come?
Nicholas James
Wild Rift voice chat has returned to the game after a brief disappearance, here’s why voice chat was disabled and how to use it. Wild Rift voice chat is making a return to the game after disappearing in patch 2.4 due to substantial technical issues with the voice communication system. Changes to a new plugin had caused the system to misfunction, which meant Riot Games removing it for a full …
League of Legends
Why is Ahri’s win rate and popularity surging after her rework?
Nicholas James
A partial Ahri rework has led to the nine-tailed fox’s popularity and win rate shooting skywards after this effort at modernizing the classic champion. The Ahri rework wasn’t a full visual gameplay update that rebuilt her from the ground up. Instead, Riot Games chose to modernize Ahri’s kit ahead of her Aesthetic Sustainability Update. ASUs are meant to be mid-scope changes to the visual look of a character that help …
League of Legends
A new Caitlyn item bug makes her Q deal no damage
Nicholas James
A new Caitlyn item bug that was spotted on the Public Beta Environment has somehow made its way to live servers, potentially crippling her damage. The new bug causes Caitlyn’s Q, Piltover Peacemaker, to deal no damage as long as Caitlyn has the item in her inventory. This glitch could cripple one of League of Legends’ most powerful marksmen by punishing players for being smart about what items they buy. …
League of Legends
Here are all the Teamfight Tactics set 6.5 battle pass rewards
Nicholas James
The Teamfight Tactics set 6.5 battle pass rewards have been revealed, including tons of cosmetics and rewards. Neon Nights has arrived on the League of Legends live server, ushering in 20 new units, 80 new augments, and tons of new gameplay. Here are all of the Teamfight Tactics set 6.5 battle pass rewards. For those who don’t want to spend money on the battle pass, there are still plenty of …
League of Legends
When does Renata release? The new League of Legends support arrives
Nicholas James
LoL’s new support is here with a Chem-Baroness striding onto Summoner’s Rift. But when does Renata release in the MOBA? Renata Glasc has been poisoning her way through the Public Beta Environment with some shocking abilities. After being delayed for Arcane, her arrival came quickly after the release of Zeri. Now fans are wondering when Renata will be available in the game itself. Renata will be added to League of …
League of Legends
Can you vote for the 2022 LEC All-Pro team?
Nicholas James
The LEC has announced updates to the LEC awards, but some esports fans still have questions. Can you vote for the 2022 LEC All-Pro team still? The LEC All-Pro team was previously a vote accessible to average community members, but that’s changed with the latest update. A new award is being introduced for the playoffs finals, but the All-Pro team is becoming an expert-voted award. The All-Pro Team has coaches, …
League of Legends
League of Legends pro banned for win trading and toxicity
Nicholas James
A League of Legends professional was banned from competitive play for a variety of offenses, including Elo boosting, account sharing, win trading, and toxicity. A competitive ruling against an Ultraliga team coach was announced on February 16 by Riot Games following various rule violations. Maroon Bells, a team in the Ultraliga 2nd Division, saw their coach suspended from pro play for a year following the accusations, which included win trading …
League of Legends
Team Liquid’s CoreJJ to return to LCS after getting green card
William Davis
Team Liquid is finally looking to field its full roster in the LCS now that support Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in has acquired his green card. It has been a good start to the season for Team Liquid, winning the LCS Lock In tournament and performing well in the opening two weeks of the 2022 LCS Spring Split. But all of this has been done while not being able to field TL’s …
T1 vs. KT Rolster: 2022 LCK Spring betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The telecom war is back in the LCK when first-place team T1 takes on KT Rolster during the fifth week of the 2022 LCK Spring Split. It will be an uphill battle when KT faces off against the undefeated T1 for the first time this season. T1 will be entering the best-of-three match with loads of confidence after achieving an 8-0 record so far this split. KT is sitting at …
Teamfight Tactics: Neon Nights finalized, patch notes revealed
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics: Neon Nights is now ready for launch. Neon Nights will launch with patch 12.4, the same patch that brings Renata Glasc to League of Legends. A Teamfight Tactics developer revealed the changes that are coming to the PBE in the near future. The final patch includes tweaks to both Neon Nights’ new champions as well as many of the new Hextech Augments. The Hextech Augment system has been …
Riot introduces new buzzing skins on PBE for Ziggs, Nunu, more
William Davis
League of Legends
New buzzing skins for League of Legends have just hit the Public Beta Environment (PBE), as Riot Games is releasing a new batch of popular bee skins. The new round of skins will include four new cosmetics, with Ziggs, Heimerdinger, Nunu, and Orianna taking the spotlight this time around. All four champions have transitioned into their own bee theme and will without a doubt sting their opponents when entering Summoner’s …
Huge Spirit Visage bug prevents tons of healing in LoL
Nicholas James
League of Legends
A fan discovered a massive Spirit Visage bug in League of Legends where the item refuses to amplify healing from Omnivamp. Spirit Visage is a much-coveted magic resistance item that amplifies healing and shielding effects on the user. One of the most popular uses is to play it on life-stealing bruisers to make them into nearly unkillable monsters, but this Spirit Visage bug prevents that. A post on Reddit garnered …
Who is Sjokz, the most famous host in pro League of Legends?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
She’s one of the most recognizable and iconic esports hosts, but who really is Sjokz? Eefje “Sjokz” Deeportere is a Belgian host and presenter who has specialized in esports broadcasts. She is best known for her regular and long-time appearances in Europe’s pro League of Legends scene, from its early days of the EU LCS to the modern LEC. Sjokz began her career as a freelance journalist producing esports content …
Riot wants Doctor Mundo changes to make him a raid boss
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Doctor Mundo’s rework modernized the Zaunite monstrosity, but Riot Games designers are looking at Mundo changes to make him unkillable in the late game. Riot designer Twin Enso, who was responsible for Mundo’s rework, says that Riot’s long-term goal is to make Mundo an unkillable late-game tank. These Mundo changes would look to make Mundo more effective as the game goes on, as the late-game is an area that he …
Here’s the full League of Legends 2022 Clash schedule
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Clash is the best way to team up with friends and experience five-on-five competitive League of Legends. Here’s the League of Legends 2022 Clash schedule. Clash has been a smash hit for Riot Games, allowing fans to experience a low-stakes version of professional play, from scouting their opponents to the staggered ban and draft system seen in major leagues. Riot Games recently announced the full League of Legends 2022 Clash …
Bjergsen tops Doublelift, hits 2nd in all-time LCS kill count
William Davis
League of Legends
The Danish LCS legend and Team Liquid mid laner Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg surpassed a big milestone after beating FlyQuest in the LCS. Bjergsen and Liquid closed out the second week of the 2022 LCS Spring Split with a convincing win over FlyQuest. This didn’t only put Liquid on a 3-1 record in the standings but also saw Bjergsen reach second place for most all-time kills in the LCS at a …
How does Riot Games release a new LoL champion?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Creating a champion for League of Legends is incredibly difficult, but how does Riot Games release a new playable character? Recently, Riot Games put out a developer blog detailing exactly what it takes to put together a new champion and introduce them to fans. From reworks to brand new characters, how does Riot Games release a champion? The birth of a champion is an incredibly complex process, involving gameplay, design, …
What does Legends of Runeterra tell us about Udyr’s new rework?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Fans have gotten their first look at a new version of League of Legends’ spirit walker with a Legends of Runeterra Udyr adaptation being revealed. Udyr is the next champion to be reworked in League of Legends by Riot Games. Keen-eyed fans will notice that the Legends of Runeterra Udyr looks quite different from both the rework previews and his current model. Why does Udyr look so different in Legends …
Smite solo laners expand to Poppy and Bard, and this is why
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Smite solo laners have been taking League of Legends by storm by abusing the new objective bounty system. Originating with Janna top players that took Smite and fully abandoned their top lanes, the strategy has hit pro play and is already showing more options to be viable beyond Janna. Both Bard and Poppy were picked in professional leagues recently, with both picks taking home wins using the top smite strategy.. …
How good are Riot Games employees at LoL and TFT?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
With incredibly complex games being built by the studio, it’s easy to wonder how good Riot Games employees are at League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics? Recently, Teamfight Tactics lead developer Stephen “Mortdog” Mortimer hit the highest possible rank of Challenger. In a developer blog post, he spoke about the expectation for developers to be able to play their games at the top level. Does it matter how good Riot …
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.
