The video game League of Legends, first released
in 2009 by Riot Games, shot up to unbelievable heights in its first years since
birth. It’s said to be one of the best multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)
games. However, with almost a decade under its belt, does League of Legends
still hold the crown or has the king toppled down?
League of Legends has taken the gaming community by storm.
With hands firmly on keyboards and mouse, are active players aiding the game in
its growth? Game developers Riot Games shared the details of histories of its
growth which shows that in 2011 there were around 5 million registered users
for the game. However, by 2012 this figure had risen to 70 million,
demonstrating a remarkable rate of adoption.
What seems to keep the game alive is the number of players
returning to play every month. This is because Riot Games uses weekly game
updates to encourage players to return. A tactic used in 2014 which saw the
game reach around 67 million monthly players. This posed an enormous
achievement for the MOBA game, since in 2011 the monthly players were levelled
at a humble 11.5 million. This is the largest value the
developers have ever officially made public.
In 2016 Riot Game executives confirmed that the game had reached around 100 million users in an interview with Polygon. The confirmation was unofficial as up-to-date data is yet to be given.
In 2016 Riot Game executives confirmed that the game had reached around 100 million users in an interview with Polygon. The confirmation was unofficial as up-to-date data is yet to be given.
Fast forward four years and no updated public figures have been given since. With the tone of silence, this begs the question - what does this mean for League of Legends? Is the game once touted as the most played video game in the world struggling to retain users?
The chart above demonstrates the popularity of the game in recent years. Overall, the individuals playing on their own, known as League Solo Queue to the gaming population has declined by less than 2 percent. Although North America and Oceania were the first to start losing Solo Queue players, having fewer overall players in 2017 than in 2018, the declines levelled out in 2018. Japan was the only region to gain Solo Queue players in 2018. However, both Europe West and Europe Nordic and East lost noteworthy portions of their Solo Queue base in 2018, bringing their counts to at or below their 2016 equivalents.
Although the number of players playing the game has seen a decline, recent developments have seen a demand for gamers opting to stream and watch the game instead of playing the game. When compared to its gaming nemesis Fortnite, viewership for League of Legends has been consistently less that its competitor since March this year. With 104,226 average views, online video game streaming service Twitch announced that League of Legends was the second most viewed game this December, falling just behind Fortnite which has average views of 160,596.
Released on 25th July 2017, recent stats show
that Fortnite reached heights of around 78 million monthly players which
surpasses the 67 million monthly players for League of Legends given by Riot
Games.
However, League of Legends is now more than just a
video game, it is also an eSport. Gamers are now taking a back seat and are
watching the video game being played by professional eSports teams. This has
become a booming industry for Riot Games, the 2018 League of Legends
championship finals brought in around 205 million viewers worldwide from
various online streaming services. Giving a total watch time of over 6 billion
hours, with the majority viewership coming from China.
