History of League of Legends in Timeline

League of Legends is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game developed and published by Riot Games in 2009. Inspired by Defense of the Ancients, it features team-based strategic gameplay where players control characters with unique abilities to destroy the opposing team's base. It's free-to-play, monetized via cosmetic purchases, and available on Windows and macOS. League of Legends is a very popular game.

2007: Game Developers Conference Demo

In 2007, a demonstration of League of Legends built in the Warcraft III game engine was shown at the Game Developers Conference, but received little interest from potential investors due to concerns about the free-to-play business model and lack of a single-player mode.

October 7, 2008: League of Legends Announcement

On October 7, 2008, League of Legends was announced for Microsoft Windows.

2008: Agreement with Tencent

In 2008, Riot reached an agreement with Tencent to oversee the launch of League of Legends in China.

April 2009: Closed Beta Testing

In April 2009, closed beta-testing for League of Legends began with seventeen champions available.

October 2009: League of Legends Release

In October 2009, League of Legends (LoL) was released as a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games for Microsoft Windows and macOS. The game is monetized through purchasable character customization.

October 27, 2009: North American Full Release

On October 27, 2009, League of Legends was fully released in North America with double the amount of champions from the beta (34 champions). Riot dropped the subtitle Clash of Fates before launch.

2009: Critical Reception and Launch Issues

In 2009, League of Legends received criticism for the grind required for non-paying players to unlock key gameplay elements, the game was underdeveloped, and the physical version of the game was inadvisable to purchase due to the inavailablility of the store credit. Features available during the beta were also removed for the release, and players experienced long queue times and 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 the Best Free-to-Play Game award at the Golden Joystick Awards.

March 2013: Mac Version Release

In March 2013, a Mac version of League of Legends was made available, after only being available for Microsoft Windows at launch.

2013: Comparisons to Dota 2

In 2013, comparisons were drawn between League of Legends and Valve's Dota 2, with opinions varying on champion accessibility and game pace.

September 2014: Fictional Setting Reboot

In September 2014, Riot Games rebooted League of Legends' fictional setting, removing summoners from the game's lore to avoid "creative stagnation" and hired Warhammer writer Graham McNeill.

2014: Summoners in Lore

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's Formation

In 2014, Riot Games ventured into music with the virtual heavy metal band Pentakill, promoting a skin line of the same name.

2014: Standardized Patch Cadence

In 2014, Riot standardized their patch cadence for League of Legends to approximately once every two or three weeks.

2014: Ubisoft Analyst Report on Paying Customers

In 2014, an Ubisoft analyst estimated that only 4% of League of Legends players were paying customers.

2014: Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) Mode Release

In 2014, the Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) mode was available for two weeks as an April Fools' Day prank. The mode featured champion abilities with no resource cost, significantly reduced cooldown timers, increased movement speed, reduced healing, and faster attacks.

April 2015: URF Mode Burnout Disclosure

In April 2015, Riot disclosed that Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) mode had not been brought back because its unbalanced design resulted in player burnout. The developer also cited high maintenance and balancing costs for URF.

2015: Comparisons to Heroes of the Storm

In 2015, comparisons were drawn between League of Legends and Blizzard Entertainment's Heroes of the Storm, with opinions varying on game pace.

2016: Hextech Chests Introduction

In 2016, "hextech chests" were introduced. 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: Music Team Size

In 2016, the League of Legends music team had four full-time composers and a team of producers creating audio for the game 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 with virtual medals following games for positive attributes. Acquiring medals increases a player's "Honor level", rewarding them with free loot boxes over time.

2018: K/DA Debut

In 2018, K/DA, a virtual K-pop girl group, debuted, promoting a skin line by the same name. The group's debut single, "Pop/Stars", premiered at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship.

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2018: The Game Awards Nomination and Sports Emmy Award

In 2018, League of Legends was nominated for Best Esports Game at The Game Awards and won Outstanding Live Graphic Design for the 2017 world championship at the 39th Sports Emmy Awards. As part of the pre-competition proceedings, Riot used augmented reality technology to have a computer-generated dragon fly across the stage.

2018: Marvel Comics Collaboration Announcement

In 2018, Riot announced a collaboration with Marvel Comics and released League of Legends: Ashe—Warmother and League of Legends: Lux comics.

2018: Character Design Criticism

In 2018, Strom criticized the female characters' designs, comparing them to those in "horny Clash of Clans clones".

June 2019: Teamfight Tactics Release

In June 2019, Teamfight Tactics, an auto battler game, was released. It became a permanent game mode the following month and is available for iOS, Android, Windows and macOS with cross-platform play.

2019: Peak Concurrent Players and Tie-ins

In 2019, League of Legends regularly peaked at eight million concurrent players. This popularity led to tie-ins such as music, comic books, short stories, and the animated series Arcane, as well as several spin-off video games.

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2019: The Game Awards: Best Esports Game

In 2019, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards. Riot also won Best Esports Event for the 2019 League World Championships.

2019: World Championship Viewership

In 2019, Riot Games reported 44 million peak concurrent viewers for the League of Legends World Championship finals.

2019: True Damage Creation and Performance

In 2019, Riot created a virtual hip hop group called True Damage. The group performed their debut song, "Giants", at the opening ceremony of the 2019 League of Legends World Championship.

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2019: League of Legends: Lux Print Release

In 2019, a print version of League of Legends: Lux was released.

2019: 10th Anniversary Announcements

In 2019, for the 10th anniversary of League of Legends, Riot Games announced several games related to the League of Legends IP.

2019: League of Legends World Championship Viewership

In 2019, the League of Legends World Championship registered over 100 million unique viewers, with a peak concurrent viewership of 44 million during the finals.

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 League of Legends characters, launched for Microsoft Windows.

August 2020: "The Baddest" Release

In August 2020, Riot Games released "The Baddest", the pre-release single for All Out, the debut EP from K/DA.

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December 2020: MMORPG Announcement

In December 2020, Greg Street announced that a massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on League of Legends was in development.

2020: The Game Awards: Best Esports Game

In 2020, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards. Riot also won Best Esports Event for the 2020 League World Championships.

2020: World Championship Viewership

In 2020, Riot Games reported 45 million peak concurrent viewers for the League of Legends World Championship finals.

2020: Vanguard's Initial Release

In 2020, Vanguard was originally developed by Riot for their tactical shooter Valorant.

2020: Streaming Rights Sold to Bilibili

In Fall 2020, the rights to stream international League of Legends events such as the World Championships and the Mid-Season Invitational in China were sold to Bilibili for a three-year deal reportedly worth US$113 million.

April 2021: Regional Leagues

As of April 2021, Riot Games operated 12 regional League of Legends leagues internationally, four of which have franchised systems.

November 2021: Arcane Series Premiere

In November 2021, the Arcane series premiered on Netflix internationally and through Tencent Video in China to critical acclaim, winning four Emmy Awards and nine Annie Awards.

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2021: The Game Awards: Best Esports Game

In 2021, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards.

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 various platforms.

2021: Viego's Introduction to Pentakill

In 2021, Viego was introduced to the virtual band Pentakill.

2022: Song of Nunu Announcement

In 2022, Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story, a third-person adventure game, was announced with a planned release date.

May 2023: Vanguard Anti-Cheat Software Implementation

Since May 2023, League of Legends uses Riot's custom always-online anti-cheat software, Vanguard, on Microsoft Windows devices.

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 Nintendo Switch.

2023: Heartsteel Formation

In 2023, Riot formed Heartsteel, a virtual boy band comprising League of Legends champions. Heartsteel's debut single "Paranoia" was released in October of that year.

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November 2024: Arcane Season 2 Premiere and Awards

In November 2024, Arcane's second season premiered to similar acclaim as the first season, winning seven Annie Awards in all nominated categories.

November 2024: Streamlining Player Rewards

In November 2024, Riot announced that they would streamline player rewards in an upcoming patch, causing widespread outrage due to the perception that it would take over 800 hours to unlock a single champion. The announcement was described as the studio's "worst PR disaster in years".

2024: Revenue Primarily from Whales

At the 2024 Summer Game Fest, game director Pu Liu said that revenue is primarily generated by a "single-digit percentage" of players, colloquially known as whales.

2024: Introduction of Luxury Skins

In 2024, Riot Games added a new skin tier to League of Legends with a gacha mechanic. Players buy attempts to win the skin via an in-game slot machine mechanic with costs ranging from $200 to $430. The initial response was divided, with criticism for being a recolored variant of an existing skin.

January 2025: Rewards System Reversion

In mid-January 2025, game director Andrei van Room acknowledged that the rewards system changes were a mistake, and the developer partially reverted some of the changes, including halving the cost of purchasing a champion, and the return of "hextech chests".

2025: Champion Count

As of 2025, League of Legends has 170 champions available to play.

2025: Forthcoming Home Media Releases

As of 2025, home media releases for Arcane's second season are forthcoming.

2025: Monetization Controversies

In early 2025, Riot announced a new Hall of Fame skin. PC Gamer's Rick Lane described the strategy as "whale chasing" and "psychological manipulation", and as the latest in a series of monetization controversies for the developer.