League of Legends
League of Legends
Riot is looking to buff Varus and nerf Ivern on patch 11.1
William Davis
The preview for the first patch of Season 11, patch 11.1, has been out for some weeks now, but Riot recently added a few changes to the list. Riot will be starting out the new season with quite a big patch that includes both changes to champions and items. One of the most significant changes is the nerf to Grievous Wounds, which was already announced back in December. To add …
League of Legends
EDG announces new billion-dollar esports arena project
William Davis
LPL organization EDward Gaming has announced its plans to build an entertainment center and park in Shanghai. EDG is breaking records for the most expensive esports project with the construction of the Shanghai International NCC&Esports Center. The initial investment for the project is set at a little over 10 billion yuan, roughly $1.5 billion USD. The Shanghai International NCC&Esports Center will function as EDG’s home venue and office building. EDG …
League of Legends
The start date for LoL ranked Season 11 is set
William Davis
League of Legends Season 11 is about to start and it brings some major changes to the Summoner’s Rift. It’s a new year and a new League of Legends season. Patch 11.1, the first of the year is hitting the live server on January 6. After that, players will have a little more time to familiarize themselves with changes before the start of the ranked season. League of Legends Season …
News
The LCS has set a new record for number of imported players
William Davis
In the 2020 offseason, the LCS broke the record for the most imports added to the region in one split. While it might look like the LCS is falling back into its old patterns, these signings will almost certainly increase the level of competition in the region. After disastrous results in the 2020 World Championship, fans wanted for a change in the LCS, and a massive change was what they …
League of Legends
The LCK does full rebrand ahead of the 2021 season
William Davis
To kick off the 2021 season with style, the LCK has made a full rebrand to its logo, graphics, and overall identity. The list of franchised teams that will compete in the 2021 LCK season was revealed back in November, which the LCK has now followed up with a big rebrand. The rebrand most notably includes a new logo and graphics for the official broadcast. The new brand introduces a …
League of Legends
What to expect of the 2021 LEC Spring Split
William Davis
It’s finally January, which means that the LEC and other competitive LoL leagues are starting back up soon. But what should fans expect from the 2021 LEC Spring Split? A long offseason is soon behind us, as the big competitive leagues are starting back up this month. The LEC is one of the most anticipated leagues after a lot of big roster moves in the past months. Fans have also …
League of Legends
The 2021 LPL Spring Split officially starts on January 9
William Davis
The first of the four major League of Legends competitions to start up in 2021 is the LPL, as it will kick off on January 9. The biggest and arguably most competitive LoL league in the world will be back on fans’ screens from January 9, and the best teams from the Chinese region will battle for the 2021 LPL Spring Split trophy. This was recently announced on Twitter, as …
League of Legends
These are the best champions to pick when playing ARAM
William Davis
Climbing solo queue can be hectic and frustrating, so playing ARAM once in a while can be a good way to recharge. But which champions are the best to play in the action-packed game mode? ARAM is always a popular game mode when it comes to experimentation and players wanting to play some casual and exciting games with friends. This is even more so the case in the preseason, when …
Ghost extends contract with DAMWON for the 2022 LCK season
William Davis
League of Legends
DAMWON bot laner and recent world champion Jang “Ghost” Yong-jun has extended his contract through the 2022 season. After joining DAMWON in February 2020, Ghost was a big part of the team’s improvements throughout the season. Ghost originally signed a contract lasting until November 2021, but has now extended it with at least another year. This happens after a great season where he and the rest of DAMWON won the …
The LCK tops viewer charts in 2020 right behind LoL Worlds
William Davis
League of Legends
LCK, the biggest League of Legends league in South Korea, saw big viewer numbers in 2020, only beaten by the 2020 World Championship. The LCK has been booming all year to a point where no other esports league in the world has been able to follow up. According to Esports Charts, the LCK spring and summer split was the most popular esports tournaments by hours watched only beating by the …
C9 Perkz ready to head to NA with paperwork in order
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
New Cloud9 mid laner Luka “Perkz” Perković is heading to Los Angeles this week. The League of Legends veteran excitedly shared the news on his Instagram story earlier today. Perkz told his followers that he was getting “signs of depression” as he continued to wait impatiently for his passport. It had taken a week. On top of the bad weather in Croatia, Perkz was feeling a bit bummed with the …
T1 Gumayusi showcase crazy mechanics on Kai’Sa in solo queue
William Davis
League of Legends
The young T1 bot laner Lee “Gumayusi” Min-hyeong recently showed off some insane mechanics on Kai’Sa in solo queue on the Korean server. In the solo queue game, the T1 bot laner was doing everything in his power to carry his team on Kai’Sa. To seal the deal, Gumayusi pulled off an impressive team-fight performance in the bot lane, where his opponents were outplayed in several different ways. Gumayusi of …
Riot looking to further improve LoL client, behavioral systems
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot reviewed the year 2020 in a recent blog post, reflecting on what has been a very hectic time packed with new stuff for League of Legends. The yearly review from Riot included some of the biggest focal points of the year such as the LoL client, behavioral system, new releases, and of course the big preseason changes. To make it easy for fans to get a bit of insight, …
Perkz has stream interrupted by strong earthquake in Croatia
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends veteran Luka “Perkz” Perković was streaming earlier today when he experienced a surprise earthquake. During the stream, viewers could suddenly see Perkz shaking. At first, it didn’t seem too serious for the mid lane star. But soon, his headphones weren’t even able to stay on his head. As the shaking intensified, the camera rocked uncontrollably to the point that Perkz had to whip off his headphones and …
Can DAMWON Gaming win Worlds a second time?
William Davis
League of Legends
On October 31, DAMWON Gaming silenced the audience at the Pudong Football Stadium by defeating Suning in the 2020 World Championship finals. Earlier that day, the audience refused to cheer for the DAMWON players as they were introduced by the host. Instead of letting it affect their mental state, the DAMWON players used it as motivation to deliver the performance of their lives. Four games later, DAMWON became the first …
Shad0w confirms he will play in the LPL for the 2021 season
William Davis
League of Legends
Former MAD Lions jungler Zhiqiang “Shad0w” Zhao recently confirmed in a Weibo post that he will be playing in the Chinese LPL for the 2021 season. After playing with MAD Lions throughout the 2020 season, Shad0w will be heading to the best league in China. Even though his exact destination isn’t official yet, this is looking to be the first time a player fostered in Europe will play in the …
2020 All-Star viewership goes down for the second year in a row
William Davis
League of Legends
All-Star 2020 registered the lowest viewership the event has ever seen, a trend that began in 2019. The All-Star event is not what it used to be. The 2020 edition of the competition registered its lowest vierwership numbers to date, despite LoL Esports’ best efforts to promote it. The decline of All-Star’s viewership is nothing new. In 2019, the event reached a 293,000 viewer peak, in contrast with 2018’s 565,000 …
LPL All-Star event rescheduled to take place in January 2021
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends fans won’t get to watch the LPL All-Star action until 2021. The LPL made an official announcement on Twitter, telling fans that the All-Star event will be held on January 1 and 2. It will feature four matches that showcase popular LPL players’ skills and bring some entertainment to the mix. According to the LPL’s tweet, specific details including the event’s schedule, players, and events will be …
FunPlus Phoenix announces rebrand with a brand new logo
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
FunPlus Phoenix is rebranding once again. Chinese League of Legends organization FunPlus Phoenix announced a logo change earlier today. On Twitter, the 2019 World Championship winner explained that the change was an “upgrade” of its brand vision. “Our totem phoenix soars from oriental, engraved it’s burning mark rapidly on the letters of FPX. The vision we want to share is the spirit of Faith, Passion, and Xpossibility. Fly Phoenix, Fly,” …
Lillia still hasn’t been buffed or nerfed since her release
William Davis
League of Legends
In an amazing display of potential lauched balance, Lillia has neither been buffed nor nerfed since her release in patch 10.15. After a total of 10 patches, Lillia still has not seen any changes despite being a contested pick in both solo queue and professional play. Lillia was released on July 22 and has only seen minor bug fixes since then, the latest being in patch 10.23. Lillia is one …
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.
