League of Legends
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 …
League of Legends
Hauntzer, Closer, FBI talk Damonte and the LCS teams they’re targeting
Olivia Richman
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 …
League of Legends
Dignitas V1per: “I like the idea of a 10-man roster.”
Olivia Richman
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 …
League of Legends
Golden Guardians adds Damonte to mid lane, promotes huhi
William Davis
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 …
League of Legends
Origen coach suspended from LEC for “unacceptable behavior”
Olivia Richman
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 …
League of Legends
TFT Galaxies mid-set update adds 14 new champions, brings new meta
William Davis
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
League of Legends to add report button in champion select in June
William Davis
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. …
100 Thieves re-signs Ssumday through 2022 ahead of LCS Summer Split
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
100 Thieves may have had a rough Spring Split, but they are still confident in Kim “Ssumday” Chan-ho. The LCS team re-signed the top laner for two more years. The announcement on Twitter stated that they had “many great memories” with Ssumday and that there are “so many more to come.” From the very beginning ’til now. So many great memories, and so many more to come.We’re to excited to have …
Two TFT comps you should play before the mid-set update
William Davis
League of Legends
Teamfight Tactics patch 10.11 is the final update before the Galaxies mid-set update, a major content update available on June 9. Patch 10.11 is also the final chance to grind before the rank reset on June 8. TFT: Galaxies has accomplished a healthy state where almost every composition is viable. As a result, players feel free to explore different strategies instead of forcing the same compositions over and over. With …
lolvvv’s new Clash tool is the latest weapon in League of Legends’ Clash events
Jared Wynne
League of Legends
Players looking to get an edge in their next Clash tournament have a new tool available to them that may put their team over the top. League of Legends data platform lolvvv has introduced a new Clash feature that quickly and thoroughly breaks down any and all relevant information behind competing players and teams in the popular MOBA’s Clash tournaments. This enables users to get a leg up on their …
Tyler1 reaches Challenger rank using only jungle champions
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
League of Legends streamer Tyler “Tyler1” Steinkamp is well known for his skills on Draven. But recently, Tyler1 reached Challenger in solo queue playing only in the jungle. Even though Tyler1 was once an AD carry player, he recently set off on a quest to reach Challenger while playing only jungle champions. The popular and often controversial streamer had a 52% win rate overall, with 947 wins and 864 losses. …
LoL patch 10.11 buffs all ADCs to bring power back to the bot lane
William Davis
League of Legends
League of Legends patch 10.11 is live, and it brings the new Volibear, a skin line from out of this world, and major changes for the game’s marksmen. On the cosmetic side, patch 10.11 added Astronaut Poppy, Astronaut Gnar, and Astronaut Bard to the shop. Additionally, the update added new chromas for Astronautilus and Astronaut Teemo. The new and improved Volibear is finally available on the game. It includes a …
Huni to sign with Evil Geniuses after being dropped by Dignitas
William Davis
League of Legends
Evil Geniuses has acquired top laner Heo “Huni” Seung-hoon ahead of the 2020 LCS Summer Split, ESPN’s Jacob Wolf reported on Wednesday. The formerly second-highest paid player in the LCS found a new home. After being dropped by Dignitas back on April, Huni will join Evil Geniuses for the next split. The terms and conditions will be different from the $2.3 million contract that Huni previously signed with Dignitas. According …
Spica promoted to starting jungler for TSM as Dignitas adds V1per
William Davis
League of Legends
Team SoloMid has revealed its full roster heading into the 2020 LCS Summer Split. TSM introduced its new roster which includes: Top lane: Sergen “Broken Blade” Çelik Jungle: Mingyi “Spica” Lu Mid lane: Søren “Bjergsen” Bjerg ADC: Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng Support: Vincent “Biofrost” Wang Spica, a former TSM Academy jungler, has been promoted to the main roster starting this season. The move was leaked on May 13 when support Biofrost …
Dardoch joins Dignitas, gets another chance at LCS redemption
William Davis
League of Legends
Former Team SoloMid jungler Joshua “Dardoch” Hartnett has joined Dignitas ahead of the 2020 LCS Summer Split. After weeks of speculation and controversy, Dardoch has found a new home at Dignitas. It’s not the first time that Dignitas picks up a jungler dropped by TSM, as the team previously signed both Jonathan “Grig” Armao and Matthew “Akaadian” Higginbotham. Dardoch joins mid laner Henrik “Froggen” Hansen, ADC Johnson “Johnsun” Nguyen, and …
LEC cancels 2020 Summer playoffs in Sweden, opens Berlin studio
William Davis
League of Legends
The LEC has decided to cancel the 2020 LEC Summer Split finals event in Malmö, Sweden due to the ongoing global health situation. “We’ve made the difficult decision to cancel our plans to host the Summer Finals in Malmö, Sweden. We’re currently exploring other options for the event,” director of esports at Riot Alberto “Tiroless” Guerrero said. This is a last-minute change for the league that as recently as April …
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
EG Svenskeren: “There’s no downside to having Huni on the roster.”
By
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
Faker sends heartfelt message to Uzi after retirement announcement
By
Olivia Richman
League of Legends
LCS, LEC LoL watch rewards to include sponsored drops this summer
By
William Davis
