Riot Games’ crown jewel is soon to hit 14 years on the market as one of the most popular MOBAs currently. With the critically acclaimed series ‘Arcane’, we can see League of Legends expanding beyond the gaming scene, but should we be concerned about how the game is holding up?
Will a New King be Crowned?
It is safe to say that League of Legends has only one worthy competitor in the face of Dota 2, and yet LoL reigns supreme in terms of viewership and playerbase in the MOBA world. As Riot Games does not release official data showcasing their active player count, we can only rely on third-party statistics, and despite many previous death knells heeding the end of League of Legends, the game has only surpassed expectations time and time again.
Just shying away from the first spot on Twitch for being the most viewed game, League of Legends has remained dominant on the site for many years. Suffice to say, having an estimated 180,000,000 average monthly players for the last 30 days, LoL shows no signs of stopping
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Community and Creators
Whether you have watched Tyler1’s journey through Solo Queue, only for him to be reformed as a prominent streamer; posted on Reddit the K’Sante copypasta or you have tried recording yourself getting a pentakill and uploading it directly to YouTube, League of Legends has one of the most active and ecstatic communities in gaming.
Millions have grown up playing LoL with even more content creators, streamers and professional players paving the way to greater heights. But as with all games, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Riot Games has a history of implementing changes that would outright diminish the enjoyment from the game. Backlash is not uncommon, but despite hiccups, Riot Games has been able to foster a consistent and ever increasing playerbase.
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The eSports Scene
I would like to address the elephant in the room- the eSports scene in North America (LCS) recently being under fire for their declining viewership, dwindling sponsorships and lack of good professional players during 2023. The prominent YouTuber Gbay99 details this further in his video.
However, the game holds a strong presence internationally, for instance, this year’s Mid-Season Invitational tournament hit a whopping 971.6K peak viewer count, and with Worlds Championship 2023 currently underway, it is safe to assume that this game is here to stay.
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Final Thoughts
After all of this consideration, would I say that League of Legends is dying? Absolutely not.
Riot Games has managed to create a great blend of casual play for people just wanting to play with their friends without needing to entirely focus on the gameplay, parried with the dominant and highly competitive ranked mode which in result allows for prodigies and professionals to pursue a career in eSports, streaming or content creation.
Riot Games has seemingly perfected the blueprint for the MOBA scene and they will not be giving up the top spot without a fight.
