League of Legends
League of Legends
TFT Galaxies mid-set patch 10.12 adds new traits, updates TFT Mobile
William Davis
The highly anticipated TFT: Galaxies mid-set update is live with TFT patch 10.12, and it brings changes to every single element in the game. This is the only content update for TFT: Galaxies, so from now until the new set there won’t be new champions or traits. The mid-set update also includes Lightcharger, Nixie and Bellswayer, a trio of Little Legends. Galaxies Ranked Stage two has officially started with patch …
League of Legends
Riot Games investigates executive over problematic George Floyd post
Steven Rondina
A Riot Games executive has been placed on leave after problematic social media posts were unearthed. Vice reported on a series of social media posts byRon Johnson, Riot’s global head of consumer products. Among them was a meme accompanied by a post that suggested the death of George Floyd was due to his “criminal lifestyle.” “There is no reason to condone his killing by the officer at all, which still …
League of Legends
Riot Games plans on big penalties for AFK players in solo queue
William Davis
Riot Games is planning on giving harsher punishment to AFK players, the developer revealed in a recent update on fighting against game-ruining behavior. Back in May, Riot shared its plan to stop the game-ruining behavior in solo queue. After a month of research and the deploying of some small fixes to solo queue, Riot is starting to reconsider its penalty system. “Our penalties for AFKing rely too much on queue …
League of Legends
Akali and ADC Senna just got big buffs in League’s latest patch
William Davis
League of Legends patch 10.12 has arrived with new elements on the map, buffs for Volibear, and new high noon skins. High Noon Senna, High Noon Irelia, and Hextech Nocturne will be available on June 18. High Noon Senna is the first skin line the Redeemer shares with her husband, Lucian. The reworked Volibear arrived at the Summoner’s Rift with patch 10.11 and has been underperforming ever since. Volibear’s win …
League of Legends
igNar promises FlyQuest won’t be “easy win” for Cloud9 in summer
Olivia Richman
Going into the LCS Spring Split, not many League of Legends fans had high hopes for FlyQuest. It didn’t take long for analysts and viewers alike to see just how wrong their predictions were. FlyQuest ended up tied for second with Evil Geniuses and 100 Thieves at the end of the split before making a run through playoffs behind eventual champion Cloud9. But that wasn’t enough for Dong-geun “igNar” Lee. …
League of Legends
Sneaky thinks latest marksmen and ADC buffs make no difference
William Davis
Former Cloud9 AD carry Zachary “Sneaky” Scuderi is not completely sold on the latest buffs for marksmen that came through with LoL patch 10.11. Streamer and cosplay extraordinaire Sneaky had some thoughts about the buffs in patch 10.11 and whether or not these changes would make a big difference for marksmen. Solo queue players have been complaining about the state of marksmen since the offseason when Riot Games changed the …
League of Legends
Riot Games’ $11 million to support underrepresented gaming communities
William Davis
Riot Games has pledged to donate $1 million to fight against inequality and racism in North America, president Dylan Jadeja announced. The Riot Games Social Impact Fund will make initial contributions to The Innocence Project and the American Civil Liberties Union. The Innocence Project works in favor of the wrongly convicted individuals by providing DNA testing and working of reforms for the criminal justice system. The ACLU protects the rights …
News
LCS broadcast loses Ovilee ahead of 2020 LCS Summer Split
William Davis
The LCS broadcast just lost a key member of its team. Hostess and interviewer Ovilee May has revealed that she won’t part of the LCS broadcast in the upcoming 2020 LCS Summer split. May, who’s represented by United Talent, shared the announcement through her personal YouTube channel. May didn’t detail the exact circumstances of the departure from the broadcast, but clarified that she will continue to work with the LCS …
Hauntzer, Closer, FBI talk Damonte and the LCS teams they’re targeting
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Golden Guardians finished sixtth in the Spring Split, falling short in the playoffs. But with a new roster and a new focus, the Golden Guardians squad is looking forward to a more successful Summer Split. WIN.gg chatted with Kevin “Hauntzer” Yarnell, Can “Closer” Çelik, and Victor “FBI” Huang about their goals for the LCS Summer Split and which teams they’re looking forward to beating. How has practice been? Hauntzer: Scrimming’s …
Dignitas V1per: “I like the idea of a 10-man roster.”
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
It’s not too common for LCS teams to have a 10-man roster, but Dignitas is giving it a shot for the Summer Split. After a mediocre showing in the Spring Split, Dignitas is looking to have a bigger impact in the summer with a spot at the World Championship on the line. WIN.gg spoke with Omran “V1per” Shoura about his new team and their approach to the upcoming season. How …
EG Svenskeren: “There’s no downside to having Huni on the roster.”
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
The LCS Summer Split is beginning June 20 and Evil Geniuses’ Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen already has his eyes on the 2020 World Championship. WIN.gg spoke with the jungler about the new roster, what it means for the Summer Split, and what changes the team has made after falling to Cloud9 in the finals last season. EG came in second last season in the LCS. How do you plan on taking …
Faker sends heartfelt message to Uzi after retirement announcement
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Few were shocked when Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao retired from League of Legends last week due to his ongoing health problems. That doesn’t mean people weren’t saddened by the news, though. Uzi first reported serious injuries last year, revealing in an interview that he had terrible arm pain that kept him from scrimming with his Royal Never Give Up teammates. He then became a free agent, leading many to wonder if the …
LCS, LEC LoL watch rewards to include sponsored drops this summer
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games is introducing exclusive sponsored drops into the LCS and LEC broadcast starting this summer split. Fans watching the action live through LoL Esports’ website are eligible for exclusive digital goods including skin shards, prestige points, chromas, and Clash tickets. The drops will be available from June 26 to the end of the split. The drops are open to fans from all regions, so anyone watching can get the …
Golden Guardians adds Damonte to mid lane, promotes huhi
William Davis
League of Legends
Golden Guardians has announced its roster for the 2020 LCS Summer Split and it includes a surprising new member. It’s Tanner time for Golden Guardians, the organization confirmed Tanner “Damonte” Damonte as its starting mid laner in the LCS. Former mid laner Greyson “Goldenglue” Gilmer has been demoted to the Golden Guardians Academy where he’s expected to share the playing time with Nicholas “Ablazeolive” Abbott. Golden Guardians’ full LCS roster …
Origen coach suspended from LEC for “unacceptable behavior”
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Origen has dropped League of Legends strategic coach Jack “Kayys” Kayser following a suspension from the LEC. Riot Games announced that they concluded their investigation into Kayys, which resulted in a temporary suspension. He can’t return to the LEC until June 25 due to “unacceptable behavior” he exhibted while playing League of Legends on his own time. “Kayser’s usage of discriminatory language towards other players in the game is unacceptable …
TFT Galaxies mid-set update adds 14 new champions, brings new meta
William Davis
League of Legends
The TFT: Galaxies mid-set update is hitting, and Riot Games has shared all of the details about the new elements in the game. Riot is taking a different approach to TFT: Galaxies when it comes to the new content available in the set. In previous sets, Riot added new champions and traits over the course of the set’s duration. This time, all new content comes in a massive bundle that …
League of Legends to add report button in champion select in June
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot shared an update on the matchmaking improvements in League of Legends. The next step is to include a report and mute button to the champion select screen, which will be available by the end of June or early July. This button is part of the anti game-ruining behavior measures that Riot is deploying. Based on the data collected upon deployment, Riot will create punishments. This follows a very public …
Uzi says he will return to pro League of Legends if health improves
Olivia Richman
News
Jian “Uzi” Zi-Hao may have retired from Royal Never Give Up, but his goal of staying a League of Legends pro are still fresh on his mind. Uzi has long been considered one of the best ADC pros in the world. He was the first player to reach 3,000 kills in their career and he held that kill record for many years. But recently, Uzi has not been seeing much …
How to get the new Thousand-Pierced Volibear skin for free
William Davis
League of Legends
The reworked Volibear has arrived in Summoner’s Rift and developer Riot Games is giving away a free skin to commemorate the launch. In 2019, Riot announced that Fiddlesticks and Volibear would be getting complete overhauls. The new Volibear arrived with patch 10.11 and brings a present with him to players. All players that owned the champion prior to the rework will receive the new Thousand-Pierced Bear skin for free. To …
LoL Wild Rift alpha gameplay details, list of champions revealed
William Davis
League of Legends
Riot Games announced when the League of Legends: Wild Rift Regional Alpha will arrive in Brazil and the Philippines. From June 6 to June 27, the game will be available for all players with Android phones that registered during the 10-year celebration in October. Riot is hoping to test the gameplay, the game system, and the stability of the servers. The announcement included a deeper look into the game’s mechanics. …
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.
