USA TODAY International Edition
‘ League of Legends’ stands test of time
At 10, the game still draws – and makes – millions
When it comes to video games, “League of Legends” is in a league of its own.
The popular online PC game, launched by publisher Riot Games in October 2009, is hitting its 10th anniversary.
Typically, after a decade a video game is likely to have been retired – a victim of technological advances and competing releases. However, even though relative newcomer shooters such as “Fortnite,” “Apex Legends” and “Overwatch” get a lot of attention, “League of Legends” maintains plenty of clout in the esports arena.
Riot Games held an online celebration Tuesday with prizes being awarded to players within games, special matches being broadcast on YouTube and Twitch, and a 10th Anniversary livestream event to announce upcom
ing features and changes.
If you aren’t familiar with “League of Legends,” here’s the basics on the strategy role- playing game: Two teams of five “champions” compete to take down the other team’s base. Your goal is to destroy the other team’s big hitters, while evading computer- generated minions and rapid- firing turrets.
It sounds simple, but there’s much more to the game, which falls into the multiplayer online battle arena ( MOBA) genre. “It is probably the closest thing to taking chess out of the physical environment with all these additional layers of critical thinking on top of it,” said Ann Hand, chairman of Super League Gaming, an amateur esports organization.
“The type of skills it takes to be exceptional at that game, not only make the game challenging and enticing to have that longevity, but also those skills are extremely transferable into other life interests,” she said.
Millions play – and watch – ‘ League of Legends’
At some point each day, the number of players engaged in the game – also referred to as “League” and “LoL” – hits 8 million players online at the same time, making it the biggest PC game in the world, Riot Games says. Overall, about 100 million play the game each month.
You can play for free, earning upgrades for your characters as you gain experience. But you also can spend money for upgrades, too. The game generated about $ 1.4 billion in revenue in 2018, according to Statista.
“League of Legends” draws a gigantic crowd of spectators, too. One of the most watched games online “LoL” amassed 69.7 million viewing hours on Twitch in August 2019, more than any other game, and also was the highestviewed game on YouTube with 17.8 million, according to research firm Newzoo.
‘ League of Legends’ helped spawn esports
While there were organized competitions between professional gamers before “LoL” – on games as diverse as “Halo” and “StarCraft” – Riot Games helped establish esports, a business that is expected to grow globally from $ 980 million this year to $ 1.8 billion in 2023, PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates.
“They were one of the first developers to say, ‘ Hey, we are going to bring this in- house and run and create a formal league like the NBA or NFL. That was a first,” said Steve Arhancet, a former professional gamer and co- CEO and owner of Team Liquid, a pro esports team with athletes who compete in several games “League of Legends” included. “They saw it as a way to continue to market their game and bring users back to playing.”
Today, there are more than 100 professional “League of Legends” teams with 800- plus pro players in 13 leagues across the globe. Each year’s matches lead up to a World Cup- style competition. The 2019 League of Legends World Championship, which kicked off on Oct. 2 in Berlin, culminates Nov. 10 in Paris at the AccorHotels Arena. You can watch the action on https:// watch. lolesports. com/ home. Last year’s event drew more than 99 million viewers.
Prizes in the millions
“League of Legends” is one of the most lucrative esports games, holding the Nos. 8- 10 spots on the top 10 esports prize pools, according to ESPN esports. Last year’s World Championship holds the No. 8 spot at $ 6.5 million, and this year’s is expected to surpass that.
‘ League’ continues to evolve
Before they co- founded Riot Games in 2006, Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck were USC students who had become disillusioned by the game industry’s model of selling $ 60 packaged games, which often are abandoned for sequels or other releases.
“Just like millions of others, we felt ( like), ‘ We don’t want the next version ( of the game) ... improve this one,” Merrill told USA TODAY.
Inspired by games such as “World of Warcraft,” “Starcraft” and “EverQuest,” they decided to create their own game that could be constantly updated.
But the esports aspect grew out of his and Beck’s desire, Merrill said, “to deeply serve and nurture a community that we were part of and could deeply relate to.”
Each year Riot Games updates the game soon after the World Championship has ended. The development team has said changes are coming to Summoner’s Rift, the game’s main battle map, in November.
“We’re excited about the future of ‘ League of Legends,” Merrill said. “At 10 years in it’s incredibly healthy and we’re just getting started.”