History of League of Legends in Timeline
League of Legends is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Riot Games, released in October 2009 for Windows and macOS. Inspired by Defense of the Ancients, it focuses on team-based strategy, where players control characters with unique abilities to destroy the opposing team's base. The game is monetized through purchasable cosmetic items, allowing players to customize their characters without affecting gameplay.
2007: League of Legends Demo at Game Developers Conference
In 2007, a League of Legends demonstration built in the Warcraft III game engine was shown at the Game Developers Conference. However, Beck and Merill had little success with potential investors.
October 7, 2008: League of Legends Announcement
On October 7, 2008, League of Legends was announced for Microsoft Windows.
April 2009: League of Legends Closed Beta Begins
In April 2009, closed beta-testing for League of Legends began, with 17 champions available.
October 2009: League of Legends Release
In October 2009, League of Legends was officially released by Riot Games. Inspired by Defense of the Ancients, it adopted a free-to-play model monetized through character customization and was available on Windows and macOS.
October 27, 2009: League of Legends Full Release in North America
On October 27, 2009, League of Legends had its full release in North America. The game launched with double the intended number of champions, totaling 40.
2009: Criticism of Grind and Launch State
Many outlets said League of Legends was underdeveloped at launch in 2009. Players experienced long queue times, and GameRevolution mentioned frustrating bugs.
2010: Game Developers Choice Awards
In 2010, League of Legends won four major awards at the first Game Developers Choice Awards: Best Online Technology, Game Design, New Online Game, and Visual Arts.
2011: Golden Joystick Award
In 2011, League of Legends won Best Free-to-Play Game at the Golden Joystick Awards.
2013: Mac Version Release
In 2013, a Mac version of League of Legends was made available, expanding the game's availability beyond Microsoft Windows.
2013: Comparisons to Dota 2
In 2013, comparisons were made between League of Legends and Valve's Dota 2. It was noted that while League of Legends was easier for new players to pick up, Dota 2 unlocked all characters by default, unlike League of Legends.
September 2014: Fictional Setting Reboot
In September 2014, Riot Games rebooted League of Legend's fictional setting, removing summoners from the game's lore to avoid "creative stagnation". The Fields of Justice were replaced by a new fictional setting—a planet called Runeterra.
2014: Pre-2014 Lore Setting
Before 2014, League of Legends players existed in-universe as political leaders, or "Summoners", commanding champions to fight on the Fields of Justice to avert a catastrophic war.
2014: Pentakill Virtual Band Formation
In 2014, Riot Games formed the virtual heavy metal band Pentakill, promoting a skin line of the same name, initially consisting of six champions.
2014: Standardized Patch Cadence
In 2014, Riot standardized its patch cadence for League of Legends to once approximately every two or three weeks, influencing the game's metagame.
2014: Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) Mode Release
In 2014, Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) mode was made available for two weeks as an April Fools Day prank. In the mode, champion abilities have no resource cost, significantly reduced cooldown timers, increased movement speed, reduced healing, and faster attacks.
2014: Estimated Paying Customers
In 2014, an Ubisoft analyst estimated that 4% of League of Legends players were paying customers.
April 2015: Riot Discloses URF Mode Player Burnout
In April 2015, Riot disclosed that they had not brought back Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) mode because its unbalanced design resulted in player "burnout", and the costs to maintain and balance URF were too high.
2015: Comparisons to Heroes of the Storm
In 2015, comparisons were drawn between League of Legends and Blizzard Entertainment's Heroes of the Storm. League of Legends was considered faster-paced than Dota 2 but slower than the "intentionally accessible" Heroes of the Storm.
2016: Hextech Chests Introduction
In 2016, "hextech chests"—a loot box system was introduced in League of Legends. These are purchasable virtual "chests" that provide random cosmetics, a practice that has been criticized as a form of gambling.
2016: Esports Popularity
In 2016, League of Legends' esports events outperformed the National Basketball Association, the World Series, and the Stanley Cup in online viewership and in-person attendance.
2016: Estimated Monthly Revenues
In 2016, a SuperData analysis estimated League of Legends' monthly revenues at $150 million per month.
2016: Music Team Size
In 2016, the music team at Riot Games had four full-time composers and a team of producers creating audio for League of Legends and its promotional materials.
2017: The Game Awards Nomination
In 2017, League of Legends was nominated for Best Esports Game at The Game Awards.
2017: Grasp of the Undying Album Success
In 2017, Pentakill's second album, Grasp of the Undying, reached number one on the iTunes metal charts.
2017: Honor System Rework
In 2017, Riot reworked the "Honor system", allowing players to award teammates virtual medals after games for positive attributes. Acquiring medals increases a player's "Honor level", rewarding them with free loot boxes over time.
2017: Esports Team and Player Count
In 2017, the League of Legends esports system comprised 109 teams and 545 players.
2018: The Game Awards Nomination and Sports Emmy Award
In 2018, League of Legends was nominated for Best Esports Game at The Game Awards. Also in 2018, League of Legends won Outstanding Live Graphic Design at the 39th Sports Emmy Awards for the 2017 world championship, featuring a computer-generated dragon using augmented reality.
2018: Collaboration with Marvel Comics
In 2018, Riot announced a collaboration with Marvel Comics and debuted the first comic, League of Legends: Ashe—Warmother, followed by League of Legends: Lux that same year.
2018: Criticism of Female Character Designs
In 2018, Strom thought that the female characters still resembled those in "horny Clash of Clans clones".
2018: K/DA Debut with "Pop/Stars"
In 2018, the virtual K-pop girl group K/DA debuted with their single "Pop/Stars" at the League of Legends World Championship, garnering over 400 million views on YouTube.
June 2019: Teamfight Tactics Release
In June 2019, Teamfight Tactics, an auto battler game, was released. The game was later made into a permanent game mode the next month and became available for iOS and Android.
2019: 10th Anniversary Game Announcements
For the 10th anniversary of League of Legends in 2019, Riot Games announced several games related to the League of Legends IP at various stages of production.
2019: Peak Concurrent Players
In 2019, League of Legends peaked at eight million concurrent players. This popularity led to tie-ins such as music, comic books, short stories, and the animated series Arcane.
2019: The Game Awards and Best Esports Event
In 2019, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards. Also at The Game Awards, Riot won Best Esports Event for the 2019 League World Championships.
2019: League of Legends World Championship Viewership
In 2019, Riot Games reported 44 million peak concurrent viewers for the League of Legends World Championship finals.
2019: True Damage Formation and "Giants" Performance
In 2019, Riot created a virtual hip hop group called True Damage, featuring the champions Akali, Yasuo, Qiyana, Senna, and Ekko. The vocalists performed "Giants" during the opening ceremony of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship, alongside holographic versions of their characters.
2019: Print Release of League of Legends: Lux
In 2019, a print version of League of Legends: Lux comic was released.
March 2020: Teamfight Tactics Mobile Release
In March 2020, a stand-alone version of Teamfight Tactics was released for iOS and Android mobile operating systems, featuring cross-platform play with Windows and macOS clients.
April 2020: Legends of Runeterra Launch
In April 2020, Legends of Runeterra, a free-to-play digital collectible card game featuring characters from League of Legends, launched for Microsoft Windows.
August 2020: "The Baddest" Single Release
In August 2020, Riot Games released "The Baddest", the pre-release single for All Out, the five-track EP from K/DA.
December 2020: MMORPG Announcement
In December 2020, Greg Street, vice-president of IP and Entertainment at Riot Games, announced that a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on League of Legends was in development.
2020: The Game Awards and Best Esports Event
In 2020, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards. Also at The Game Awards, Riot won Best Esports Event for the 2020 League World Championships.
2020: League of Legends World Championship Viewership
In 2020, Riot Games reported 45 million peak concurrent viewers for the League of Legends World Championship finals.
2020: Valorant Release
In 2020, Riot released Valorant, a tactical shooter. Vanguard was originally developed for this title.
2020: Streaming Rights Deal with Bilibili
In Fall 2020, streaming rights for international League of Legends events were sold to Bilibili in China for a three-year deal reportedly worth US$113 million.
April 2021: Regional Leagues Operated by Riot Games
As of April 2021, Riot Games operates 12 regional leagues internationally, with four franchised systems in China, Europe, Korea, and North America.
2021: The Game Awards and Best Esports Event
In 2021, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards. Also at The Game Awards, Riot won Best Esports Event for the 2021 League World Championships.
2021: Ruined King: A League of Legends Story Release
In 2021, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, a single-player, turn-based role-playing game, was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.
2021: Viego Joins Pentakill
In 2021, Viego was introduced as a new member of the virtual heavy metal band Pentakill.
2022: Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story Announcement
In 2022, Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story, a third-person adventure game, was announced for a planned release. It revolves around the champion Nunu's search for his mother.
May 2023: Implementation of Vanguard Anti-Cheat Software
Since May 2023, the game League of Legends uses Riot's custom always-online anti-cheat software, Vanguard, on Microsoft Windows devices. Vanguard requires access to the device's kernel, which some users saw as unnecessarily intrusive.
November 1, 2023: Release of "Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story"
On November 1, 2023, "Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story" was released on Windows and the Nintendo Switch. The game, developed by Tequila Works, revolves around the champion Nunu's search for his mother, with the help of the yeti Willump.
2023: Formation of Heartsteel
In 2023, Riot formed Heartsteel, a virtual boy band, comprising the champions Aphelios, Ezreal, Kayn, K'Sante, Sett, and Yone. Heartsteel's debut single "Paranoia" was released in October of that year.
2023: Gacha Game Mechanic
Since 2023 Riot has used a gacha game mechanic in Teamfight Tactics where players are guaranteed to acquire the skin after a predefined number of failed attempts.
November 2024: Premiere of Arcane Season 2
In November 2024, Arcane season 2 premiered to similar acclaim as the first season, winning seven Annie Awards. GKIDS also produced home media releases of the first season in 2024, including a collector's edition DVD, a 4K UHD steelbook, and Blu-ray variants.
November 2024: Streamlining Player Rewards Announcement
In November 2024, the studio said they would streamline player rewards in an upcoming patch, describing the game's various progression tracks and currencies as "needlessly complex".
2024: Revenue Generation Primarily by Whales
At the 2024 Summer Game Fest, game director Pu Liu said that League of Legends revenue is primarily generated by a "single-digit percentage" of players, colloquially known as whales.
2024: Additional Skin Tier Added
In 2024, Riot Games added an additional skin tier to League of Legends, describing them as a luxury good. These skins cannot be purchased outright; instead, players buy attempts to win the skin via a slot machine, and the cost can range from $200 to $430.
January 2025: Addressing Player Reward Issues
In mid-January 2025, game director Andrei van Room said they had "screwed up", explaining that a designer forgot to include the "first win of the day" experience bonus in their calculations, causing unintended consequences. The developer partially reverted some of the changes, including halving the cost of purchasing a champion.
December 2025: League Next Update Plans
In December 2025, Riot announced plans for a large-scale update to League of Legends, internally titled "League Next." The update aimed to replace the game's client, improve onboarding for new users, and overhaul visuals to make the game more beginner-friendly.
2025: Number of Champions
As of 2025, the game League of Legends has 172 champions. Riot Games periodically overhauls the visuals and gameplay of the oldest in the roster.
2025: The Game Awards Nomination
In 2025, League of Legends was nominated for Best Esports Game at The Game Awards.
2025: Home Media Releases of Arcane Season 2
In 2025, collector's edition, 4k UHD, and 4k Blu-ray variants for season 2 of Arcane came out.
2025: New Skin Announcement
In early 2025, Riot announced a new skin in the tier that had been long requested by players.
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