League of Legends
League of Legends
RiotX Arcane Twitch drops are coming, here’s how to get them
Steven Rondina
Riot Games is looking to reward League of Legends fans who get in on the ground floor of Arcane. The RiotX Arcane event has been revealed, offering Arcane-themed rewards across all Riot titles. The centerpiece of this is a Twitch drop system that offers up a set of items for almost every Riot title, including League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, and League of Legends: Wild Rift. …
League of Legends
League of Legends Worlds Finals Show Open features Imagine Dragons
Nicholas James
Imagine Dragons are making their way back onto the finals stage for Worlds this year for Riot Games’ Show Open, along with a star-studded roster of other performers. The opening ceremonies will begin at 5am PT. Riot released an Arcane-themed trailer to announce the lineup of featured artists. Riot is looking to highlight the tracks they’ve already dropped as a part of the tournament and the hype up towards Arcane. …
League of Legends
Riot announces “RiotX Arcane” event with in-game rewards, more
Nicholas James
Riot Games is pulling out all the stops when it comes to hyping up its new animated series, Arcane, which debuts on Netflix on November 6. The newly announced RiotX Arcane event will touch every single one of Riot Games’ properties, from Valorant to Teamfight Tactics, with in-game events, rewards, and more. In the week leading up to Arcane’s release, Riot’s publicity efforts have become hard to ignore for anyone …
League of Legends
Arcane set to have crossover event with PUBG Mobile, Fortnite
Steven Rondina
League of Legends’ upcoming animated series Arcane was already set to take over one battle royale title, but it seems like it’s going to be taking over even more than that. PUBG Mobile released a tease for an upcoming collaboration. It shows four silhouettes on the ground with the tease that someone is set to invade the world of PUBG Mobile. Though it wasn’t made explicit who these individuals are, …
League of Legends
Is Fortnite getting a surprise League of Legends crossover?
Nicholas James
Dataminers looking into Fortnite seem to have discovered an upcoming collaboration between Epic Games and League of Legends developer Riot Games in order to promote Riot’s animated series, Arcane. According to the alleged leaks Piltover’s most chaotic criminal, Jinx, will be dropping from the Battle Bus and into Fortnite within the next week. Riot Games has been pulling out all the stops ahead of their nine-episode series debut November 6 …
League of Legends
Who will win Worlds 2021? The best finals Pick’ems
Nicholas James
Worlds 2021 is coming to a close on Saturday, November 6, as EDward Gaming faces down DAMWON KIA in the finals. The tournament has given everything the yearly competition has been known for, with upsets and disappointments abound. Headed into the Worlds 2021 finals, this is players’ last chance to rack up points in the Worlds Pick’ems. It’s time to break down the matchup to get the last bit of …
League of Legends
Does Arcane’s final trailer reveal Jinx’s real name?
Nicholas James
The final trailer for Riot Games’ flagship animated series, Arcane, was released as part of the 2021 World Championship’s semifinals. Arcane will release on November 6, the same day as the Worlds final. The new trailer gives fans a look at the arc of Arcane’s story, as well as some juicy hints about Jinx’s real identity. The trailer opens with an introduction of the lofty spires of Piltover and the …
League of Legends
Worlds 2021 DWG KIA vs. T1 match peaks at 3.5 million viewers
William Davis
The first semifinals match of the 2021 League of Legends World Championship between DWG KIA and T1 will likely go down in history. Not just because of the intense gameplay, but also because of the impressive viewer numbers. In the five-game thriller between the two LCK rivals, DWG KIA took the victory over Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and the rest of T1. This win sends DWG KIA to its second Worlds …
These are all of Caitlyn’s new visual rework skins
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot has announced that Caitlyn will be receiving a full visual update to bring her up to date with the League of Legends’ modern design philosophies. With new animated series Arcane releasing in a week from today, Riot has confirmed the rumors of Caitlyn’s in-game model getting a rework with a new video highlighting a brand new theme and tons of concept art for her various skins. Caitlyn is one …
Despite quarterfinals defeat, Cloud9’s Worlds run was real
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Cloud9’s quarterfinals run at the 2021 World Championship came out of nowhere. Cloud9 began and ended its time in Reykjavik with 3-0 showings, bookending a nail-biting performance in the group stage. With rumors of Perkz looking elsewhere, can C9 remain happy about its performance? Cloud9’s performance ended up being a miracle for savvy fans on Fandex as much as for the decorated roster. From the group draw, fans and professionals …
SwordArt leaves TSM one year into $6 million contract
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Worlds finalist Hu “SwordArt” Shuo-Chieh, has officially left TSM after one year of playing for the North American organization. SwordArt’s signing made headlines in 2020 when he signed a staggering six million dollar deal for two years of play in the LCS. His departure follows that of Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg from the organization, ushering in a new age for the North American titan. https://twitter.com/TSM/status/1454086640394252292?s=20 SwordArt made his name in League …
EDward Gaming vs. Gen.G: 2021 Worlds betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The last semifinal of this year’s League of Legends World Championship will be a brawl between China’s EDward Gaming and Korea’s Gen.G. This matchup will be between two teams who have done very well thus far at Worlds 2021, but at the same time have shown some weakness and inconsistency. Given previous results at Worlds 2021 to date, EDG will be entering as the favorite after taking out defending MSI …
Where’s Jatt? NA’s favorite caster has uncertain future
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Joshua “Jatt” Leesman has long been a staple of North American League of Legends’ esports scene. From playing professionally to casting, to working on the balance team, to coaching Team Liquid, Jatt’s done it all. After his departure from Team Liquid in the middle of the 2021 LCS summer split, North American League of Legends’ resident renaissance man’s future has been kept mysterious. But fans keep asking, where’s Jatt? Jatt …
Misfits jungler Razork rumored to join Fnatic in 2022
Nicholas James
League of Legends
The League of Legends offseason is heating up, with rumors and roster moves coming left, right, and center. One of the latest reported roster shuffles involves one of the LEC’s star rookie junglers, Iván “Razork” Martin Diaz. According to a Twitter account known for leaking big LEC player moves ahead of time, the Misfits jungler is expected to play for Fnatic in 2022. Fnatic’s current jungler, Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau, is …
Riot Games releases Enemy by Imagine Dragons & JID
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot Games has begun the slow release of the original animated series soundtrack for Arcane, with the first song, “Enemy,” dropping on October 28. The song is performed by Imagine Dragons & JID, and features a fully animated music video giving an extended glimpse into the world of Arcane. Riot has announced that new songs are to be released with each new act of Arcane, which is itself to be …
Bjergsen leaving TSM for 2022 season after 8 years with team
Nicholas James
League of Legends
TSM confirmed that franchise player, multi-time LCS champion, part-owner, and previous head coach Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg will not be playing for the TSM roster next year. In a video released today, TSM owner Reginald Dhin and coaching staff member Parth Naidu confirmed that despite making an offer for Bjergsen to return as the starting mid laner for TSM, Bjergsen has denied the team’s offer. After becoming a part-owner of TSM, …
New LoL Prime Gaming rewards, sponsorships announced
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Amazon’s Prime Gaming has announced some big steps forwards for League of Legends esports sponsorships, as well as more rewards for League of Legends players with Amazon Prime accounts. Riot Games and Prime Gaming seem to be in it for the long haul, announcing more upcoming rewards than ever before across all of Riot’s games. Amazon’s upcoming rewards for November bring players lots of treats in the spirit of Halloween. …
DWG KIA vs. T1: Worlds 2021 betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The four best teams still remain at the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, and the first two to hit Summoner’s Rift in the semifinals will be Korean rivals DWG KIA and T1. So far, these two Korean powerhouses have arguably been looking the strongest out of all the teams throughout the tournament. This is essentially a matchup that many would have liked to have seen in the grand final, …
Riot reveals Arcane soundtrack featuring Pusha T and Sting
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Riot’s flagship animated series, Arcane, is coming to Netflix in November and the company is whetting fans’ appetites by previewing the star-studded soundtrack for the show. The tracks were previewed in batches associated with each act of Arcane. The first act features “Playground” by Bea Miller, “Our Love” by Curtis Harding and Jazmine Sullivan, and “Goodbye” by Ramsey. The preview teaser features a burning dockside, as the first episodes are …
Was MAD Lions quarterfinals run tarnished by drama?
Nicholas James
League of Legends
Reigning LEC champion MAD Lions fell out of the 2021 World Championship in the quarterfinals after an 0-3 series loss to DAMWON KIA. In the short time since, an investor for MAD Lions has drawn fan backlash after criticizing bot laner Matyáš “Carzzy” Orság. MAD Lions were the only European roster to make it past the group stage of the 2021 World Championship. Shortly afterwards, a content creator and investor …
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.
