League of Legends
League of Legends
Where will TheShy go in 2022?
Nicholas James
Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok is a name that once struck terror into the hearts of professional League of Legends players the world over. A mechanically gifted player with astonishing game sense and an unrivalled killer instinct, he was considered the greatest top laner alive by many fans for multiple years. Recent times have not been as kind to TheShy however, and with his departure from Invictus Gaming, his future is uncertain. …
League of Legends
Fan brings back winter Summoner’s Rift with custom skin
Nicholas James
Summoner’s Rift getting a visual update to match in-game events has become more and more commonplace in League of Legends. From Arcane inserting Hextech turrets, to Clash banners and Worlds insignias, Games Riot is clearly willing to make multiple smaller changes to the rift. 4 However, one Summoner’s Rift reskin that’s been notably missing for a while is the famous Winter Rift, a snow-covered, festive twist on the usual arena …
League of Legends
How does combat work in the new Ruined King game?
Nicholas James
Riot Forge’s new game Ruined King was released as part of a surprise launch alongside Choice Provision’s music runner game Hextech Mayhem. Ruined King blends a traditional turn-based RPG with a vast and interactive 3D world that players can explore in between bouts of combat. The combat system is a mix of systems that fans might already be familiar with, but it does have a few unique twists. This article …
League of Legends
Svenskeren didn’t receive LCS offer for 2022 season
William Davis
This year’s League of Legends offseason has been more competitive than ever, which means that some prominent players might not be starting on a team next year. One of those unlucky ones will be former Evil Geniuses player Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen. The jungler recently revealed that he has not been able to find a team this offseason. The veteran has played for EG for the last two years, but next season …
League of Legends
Upset responds to Adam’s statements over Fnatic Worlds drama
Nicholas James
The discussion around Fnatic’s unfortunate Worlds 2021 run has spilled out onto social media, with ex-top laner Adam “Adam” Maanane’s posting a Twitlonger on his experience in Fnatic and issues with Elias “Upset” Lipp. In the post, Adam articulated several umbrages about Worlds and the offseason, particularly centered around the team’s AD carry, Upset. Upset has made few public statements since his departure the day before Worlds’ group stage began …
League of Legends
Jankos apparently leaks Wunder moving to Fnatic
Nicholas James
This year’s offseason has been increasingly wild for fans of professional League of Legends in North America and Europe alike. Top tier players are moving down to regional play, there are imports and homecomings left, right, and center, and there seems to be no end to rumors and leaks. The latest of these comes from G2 Esports’ jungler Marcin “Jankos” Jankowski, who seems to have accidentally revealed where his previous …
League of Legends
Go behind the scenes of Arcane’s music design
Nicholas James
Riot Games’ animated series for League of Legends, Arcane, has finished its first season to resounding praise from fans and critics alike. The soundtrack especially has caught fans’ attention, with superstars like Pusha T and Sting signing on to give Piltover and Zaun their signature sound. In a recent video released by Riot, writer and showrunner Christian Linke and head of Riot Games Music Toa Dunn sit down to talk …
League of Legends
NS RedForce picks up Canna and Ghost for 2022 LCK roster
William Davis
The 2022 LCK season is shaping up to be an exciting one for NS RedForce as the team has rounded out its roster with two star players. In a recent announcement, it was discovered that NS RedForce will conclude its roster with former T1 top laner Kim “Canna” Chang-don and DWG KIA bot laner Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun. The two young stars will be the last additions to the NS RedForce …
Will Team Liquid Bjergsen’s super team succeed in 2022?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Team Liquid is rebuilding yet another potential super team this offseason, signing high profile talents in Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau, Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg, and Steven “Hans Sama” Liv. These three players seriously boost the potential of Team Liquid’s roster, and expectations are incredibly high for this roster in 2022. All of the players on Team Liquid have some serious legacies to live up to, from Hans Sama’s famous performance at Worlds to …
Council Archives: Final Entry landing soon with Arcane Jinx skin
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Into the Arcane, Riot’s interactive narrative experience surrounding their animated show Arcane is entering its final stage which highlights Jinx. The Council Archives have been a fictitious glimpse into the information collected by Piltover’s council, who are featured heavily in Arcane. From Jayce’s journals to Vi’s criminal records, fans have been able to peek behind the corner into some in-world documents about their favorite characters from League of Legends. Jinx, …
ex-Fnatic top Adam says Upset leaving Worlds was “unjustified”
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Fnatic’s run at the 2021 World Championship was by all accounts the perfect storm of unfortunate events. One of the team’s former players is going on the record with just how bad things really got. AD carry Elias “Upset” Lipp departed right before the tournament began due to an “urgent family matter” and subsequent social media drama played out around Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau and his romantic partner. It appears that …
Chovy rounds out the Gen.G 2022 LCK roster
William Davis
League of Legends
One of the biggest organizations in the LCK has completed its roster for the 2022 season with star mid laner Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon. After a bunch of announcements over the past week, Gen.G has completed its roster by picking up Chovy from Hanwha Life. Chovy joins after playing with Hanwha Life for one year, where he played a big part in getting the team all the way to the 2021 …
Here’s what the new Varus VFX looks like
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has been steadily committed to keeping their roster of champions’ in-game moves looking fresh and modern. Syndra recently had her visual effects upgraded, and it looks like it could be Varus’ turn to get an effects facelift. It isn’t an Art & Sustainability Update like Caitlyn’s recent modernization. Instead, it will be limited to making Varus’ abilities clearer for Varus players as well as their opponents. The VFX …
What will happen in Arcane Season 2?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Arcane’s first season is over. After its debut to stellar reviews, fans are scrambling to figure out what could come next after one serious cliffhanger ending. Some of the possible plot events of the second season can be guessed at from champions’ biographies and other existing lore, while others rely on contextual clues from within the show itself. This article will compile some of the most likely events and most …
Team Liquid confirms Bwipo as top laner for 2022 LCS season
William Davis
League of Legends
It’s official. Former Fnatic jungler and top laner Gabriël “Bwipo” Rau has joined Team Liquid. The rumor was confirmed by Liquid only a few hours after Bwipo was officially released from Fnatic. The previous Fnatic jungler and top laner will be role swapping back to his bread and butter as Team Liquid’s new top laner. This comes after one split as the main jungler for Fnatic, where Bwipo performed above …
Into the Arcane: Council Archives locks onto Caitlyn
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Into the Arcane has been a browser-based narrative event where League of Legends players have been able to dive into documents concerning their favorite champions from the hit animated series Arcane. After Arcane’s finale on November 20, Riot hasn’t slowed the rollout of announcements, from Project L to the locations for the 2022 World Championship. Caitlyn gets this week’s spotlight in the continued Council Archives showcase, which coincides with each …
Riot reveals Worlds 2021 viewership, and it smashed all records
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
Worlds 2021 was already known to be the biggest event in esports history, but it wasn’t clear just how much bigger it was than anything else. Riot Games has announced that the 2021 World Championship final reached more than 73 million peak concurrent viewers, an increase of almost 30 million from the previous year. The exact peak reached 73,860,742 viewers, up from 46,067,896 in 2020, while the average minute audience …
Worlds 2022 locations announced for USA, Mexico, and Canada
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Worlds 2021 hasn’t been over for a month and Riot is already announcing the cities that will host the 2022 World Championship, which will be taking place in North America. From Mexico to Eastern Canada, League of Legends esports fans from all over the continent can look forwards to esports’ biggest event coming to their neck of the woods next year. The Worlds 2022 event will begin in Mexico City, …
Arcane Season 2 is coming, is in production right now
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games didn’t even leave a single day between the finale of Arcane’s third act and the announcement of Arcane’s second season. Arcane has been a smash hit with League of Legends fans and newcomers alike, sporting a 100% critic score and a 98% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Riot Games has announced that while fans will be able to get an Arcane Season 2, it won’t be next year …
Arcane teases that Orianna may be Singed’s daughter
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Arcane’s first season has ended and fans are feverishly dissecting every detail of the final act in order to find hidden story connections and hints at Arcane’s next seasons. One of the biggest revolves around Singed and his seemingly deceased daughter, who may be League of Legends champion Orianna. During the final act, Singed takes a bigger role in the story after only being a background character in the first …
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.
