League of Legends
League of Legends
LoL’s Worlds 2021 reportedly being moved from China to Europe
William Davis
There might be big changes coming to this year’s League of Legends World Championship as the tournament is reportedly being moved from China to Europe. In a recent report by Upcomer, sources state that Worlds 2021 is likely to be relocated from China to Europe because of “difficulties securing travel for production crews.” Worlds was originally planned to be hosted in China for a second year in a row as …
League of Legends
Larssen extends his contract with Rogue through 2023
William Davis
Rogue will be keeping one of its absolute biggest star players as mid laner Emil “Larssen” Larsson has extended his contract with the team through 2023. With the contract extension, the Swedish mid laner is expected to play under the Rogue banners until November 2023 at the earliest, unless he is bought out of his contract before then. Larssen has been a part of the Rogue LEC roster since May …
League of Legends
Fnatic tops G2 to take spot in Worlds, breaks viewership record
William Davis
It wasn’t for the faint-hearted when Fnatic and G2 Esports clashed for the last seed in the 2021 World Championship. While it was an absolute nail-biter that went all the way to five games before culminating in a Fnatic victory, it was also a series that got attention from viewers from all over the world. The two LEC giants usually draw in a lot of viewers when they play in …
League of Legends
We finally know what Jhin looks like beneath his mask
Steven Rondina
One of League of Legends’ biggest mysteries may have just been solved. There are a lot of unanswered questions when it comes to LoL. Why did Jinx and Vi have a falling out? Who are the other two Darkin? How can someone’s life go so wrong that they wind up becoming a Yasuo main? One of them has been what Jhin’s face looks like under his iconic mask, but that …
Either G2 Esports or Fnatic will miss Worlds, a 1st since 2016
William Davis
League of Legends
Sunday will be a big day for European League of Legends as G2 Esports clashes with Fnatic for the last spot in the 2021 World Championship and survival in the 2021 LEC Summer Split Playoffs. After an extremely competitive season in the LEC, the last Worlds 2021 seed comes down to the rivalry between G2 and Fnatic. The two teams have been the kings of Europe in each of their …
EU Masters 2021 group draw locks in main event matchups
Tokoni Uti
League of Legends
With the play-in stage now over, the 16 remaining teams now know who stands in their way on their road to the knockout stage. The draw took place soon after AGO ROGUE’s 2-1 victory over aNc Outplayed as the Polish squad became the last to qualify for the main event. Now all teams will now have until Monday, August 30 to prepare for their group stage foes. https://twitter.com/EUMasters/status/1428447724941238278 France’s first …
MSI champion RNG knocked out of the LPL Summer playoffs by LNG
William Davis
League of Legends
The 2021 LPL Summer Split playoffs continue to surprise as the defending MId-Season Invitational champion RNG has just been knocked out of contention by LNG Esports. After four intense games, LNG managed to take down RNG in what was another big upset for the young roster. This is the third win for LNG in this playoffs, who continue to make upsets and keep the miracle run for the title alive. …
Team Liquid vs 100 Thieves: LCS Summer playoff betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The first finalist for the 2021 LCS Championship will be decided between Team Liquid and 100 Thieves when the two North American giants clash in an intense best-of-five series this weekend. Both teams have had great showings thus far in the playoffs, with Liquid having played two rounds already and winning convincingly against Cloud9 and TSM respectively. These two wins have been important for Liquid, a team that is suddenly …
Fnatic vs. Misfits: 2021 LEC Summer playoffs betting analysis
William Davis
League of Legends
The second elimination match of the 2021 LEC Summer Split playoffs is right around the corner between Fnatic and Misfits Gaming. The two will clash in an intense battle for survival, and the loser will be completely out of contention for the trophy and a spot at the 2021 World Championship. The winner will move on to a best-of-five against G2 Esports where one team gets the last European spot …
Riot reveals anticipated nerfs for Viego on LoL patch 11.17
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends patch 11.17 will drop next week and include some highly anticipated nerfs to Viego and adjustments to a few champions that might put them back into meta. In the most recent patch preview, LoL lead game designer Jeevun Sidhu and principal champion designer August presented the changes for the next patch. This patch will be tailored towards solo queue as there will be no competitive matches on …
These are the best Kai’Sa counters in League of Legends
William Davis
League of Legends
Kai’Sa is one of the absolute fan favorites when it comes to marksmen in League of Legends and there’s a high chance of running into her when grinding solo queue, regardless of rank. The popularity of Kai’Sa has been big ever since her release in March 2018. Since then, Kai’Sa has moved in and out of the meta but has always been a champion that can perform well if played …
These teams are qualified for the 2021 LoL World Championship
William Davis
News
The most anticipated League of Legends event of the year is right around the corner, and teams from all of the major regions are already starting to qualify. It’s the 2021 League of Legends World Championship, which will kick off this fall in China. As always, the event will host the best LoL teams from around the world and crown the year’s champion with glory and the awarding of the …
Police arrest Challenger player at internet cafe in China
William Davis
League of Legends
A Chinese police officer recently made an unexpected arrest when he went with his friends to play at a local internet cafe. A report by Biajiahao from a week ago shows how policeman Zhang Yihao from Chongqing arrested a suspect at a Chinese internet cafe. The policeman was reportedly at the internet cafe to play some games with his friends before noticing that a wanted suspect was playing in that …
SK Gaming accused of not paying developmental players, coaches
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
One of esports’ oldest organizations is facing allegations of misdeeds from some of its former players. A team manager from SK Gaming Academy with the handle “Vivi” is accusing the SK Gaming organization of stringing players along with promises of contracts that were never realized. Alongside this were additional allegations from a former player at SK Gaming Academy directed at a former coach for the team. Vivi stated that attempts …
Man accused of killing Brazilian voice actress for Sivir, Mercy
Steven Rondina
League of Legends
A prolific Brazilian voice actress is dead and a man is reportedly in custody for her murder. According to Globo, voice actress Christiane Louise was found dead on July 22. She was 49 years old. Three weeks later, Pedro Paulo Gonçalves Vasconcellos da Costa was reportedly arrested for his alleged involvement in Louise’s death. Police state that Paulo has confessed to killing Louise, but contends that he was acting in …
Rengar getting changes that make him stronger in low ELO games
William Davis
League of Legends
2021 has been the year of minor reworks in League of Legends and now it looks like Rengar will be the next to get some love. In a recent tweet by a Riot Games developer, it was revealed that Rengar will be getting some changes to make him more viable in lower ELO. These changes will hit the Public Beta Environment on Monday, but no exact release date has been …
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
