Most games released these days barely make it past the first couple of months. A strange title here and there might linger for a while longer, but live service games tend to die out quickly. Players grow bored, launches are often botched, and releases tend to be very lackluster compared to the golden days.
League of Legends has withstood the test of time and has been a dominant force in the multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) genre for nearly a decade and a half. How has the game managed to do so, is it faring well currently, and what are the prospects for the future: these are questions we will answer in this article. So, let’s dive in!
The Rise
League of Legends dropped amid the MOBA craze spearheaded by the Warcraft 3 custom map Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) created by Riot’s founders. It was a simplified and modern version of the aging map that immediately drew many fans and haters.
The controversies fanned the flames of popularity, and soon League of Legends outpaced its predecessor by a wide margin. It more or less held a monopoly on standalone MOBAs–rivaled only by Heroes of Newerth–and grew as the years passed.
This growth was so solid and stable that even Valve’s release of DOTA 2 couldn’t stop it. By 2018., League of Legends had reached a whopping 113 million players, which was unprecedented. This was also before they branched out into China and other regions significantly.
No other game managed to compete, and the second-biggest MOBA on the market (DOTA 2) could barely scrape around ten million players, not even 10% of what Riot’s behemoth had amassed. It seemed like nothing could stop it, but fate had its ways, and so began League’s decline.
The Decline
People ask if League of Legends is dying due to its decline a few years ago. The active player base dropped rapidly in April 2019. That year proved the worst for Riot Games, as League of Legends lost 23 million players in April alone. In addition, the concurrent player count dropped by over 1.1 million on average, a massive hit to the game’s size.
This decline would continue in the coming months, eventually dropping to about 74 million players, 40 million away from its previous peak. This continuous drop in player counts worried everyone, especially Riot, who seemed powerless. To add insult to injury, games like DOTA and new releases were breaking record after record, while League faltered in every regard.
…and Back Up Again
League of Legends would go on to recover fully from its insane drops in player numbers suffered in 2019. That same year, Riot Games launched the new Season 9 to whopping success, with player numbers increasing to around 130 million, way above the game’s previous peak. It would eventually drop below 90 million but quickly shoot back up to about 125, where it comfortably sits today.
Reasons for this resurgence in the player count would probably be Riot’s ever-increasing focus on expanding their Chinese servers. Riot Games was acquired by the Chinese company Tencent, and China itself is a pretty lucrative market these days. MOBAs and MMOs have always been popular in the country, but getting released comes with complications due to government regulations.
Their success in managing several Chinese servers (and super-servers) has been fruitful, and they have managed to increase League’s numbers worldwide. However, Riot seems to have forgotten it’s core North American and European player base, which has significantly declined over the past few years.
It remains to be seen what Riot Games is planning to do to have Western players return or retain those currently playing. However, the game’s shifting and changing nature scares many new players away, and streamlined experiences like Call of Duty, Fortnite, and similar games are much more engaging and alluring for casual gamers.
So, Is League of Legends Dying?
No, not by a long shot. It is on the decline in particular regions, which have been volatile in this regard for about a decade now, so we wouldn’t say that’s indicative of a dead game. For League to genuinely be dead, it needs to be practically inactive, which it seriously isn’t. The game has dozens of millions of players on each server battling it out daily, and that overall number seems to be increasing.
Will League of Legends will survive the coming years and the rapid development of new competitive titles? It’s ultimately anyone’s guess, and we can only speculate.
Conclusion
League of Legends is an old game, but not dying. Not all games are made the same or to last. Riot seems to wish to keep theirs alive for as long as possible. The game is almost old enough to vote, and it seems it will reach that age invigorated to the fullest.
This article was produced and syndicated by Boss Level Gamer.
