History of League of Legends in Timeline
League of Legends (LoL) is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) video game developed and published by Riot Games, released in 2009. Inspired by Defense of the Ancients, it's a free-to-play game for Windows and macOS, monetized through character customization purchases. LoL is a prominent title in the MOBA genre.
2007: League of Legends Demo at Game Developers Conference
In 2007, a demonstration of League of Legends, built in the Warcraft III game engine, was showcased at the Game Developers Conference, but it received little interest from potential investors.
October 7, 2008: League of Legends Announcement
On October 7, 2008, League of Legends was officially announced for Microsoft Windows.
2008: Agreement with Tencent for China Launch
In 2008, Riot Games reached an agreement with Tencent to oversee the launch of League of Legends in China.
April 2009: Closed Beta Testing Begins
In April 2009, closed beta-testing for League of Legends began, featuring seventeen champions.
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 was launched as a free-to-play game monetized through character customization and available on Microsoft Windows and macOS.
October 27, 2009: Full Release in North America
On October 27, 2009, League of Legends was fully released in North America with double the initially planned number of champions.
2009: Criticism of Early Gameplay and Retail Version
In 2009, League of Legends received criticism for requiring non-paying players to grind excessively to unlock gameplay elements, underdeveloped features, and issues with the retail version, such as 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 Best Free-to-Play Game at the Golden Joystick Awards.
March 2013: Mac Version Release
In March 2013, a Mac version of League of Legends was made available.
2013: Comparison to Dota 2
In 2013, comparisons were made between League of Legends and Dota 2, with some arguing that League of Legends was more accessible to new players while Dota 2 offered characters unlocked by default.
September 2014: Reboot of Fictional Setting
In September 2014, Riot Games rebooted League of Legends' fictional setting, removing summoners from the game's lore to avoid creative stagnation and hired Graham McNeill as a writer. The Fields of Justice were replaced by a new fictional setting—a planet called Runeterra.
2014: Political Themes and Character Development
Before 2014, League of Legends featured political themes and Summoners commanding champions, but the plot was presented in reductive terms. Character biographies were initially brief, reflecting a lack of emphasis on in-depth writing.
2014: Pentakill Debut
In 2014, Riot Games introduced Pentakill, a virtual heavy metal band, to promote a skin line of the same name.
2014: Standardized Patch Cadence
In 2014, Riot Games standardized the patch cadence for League of Legends to approximately once every two to three weeks, making it a core part of the game to keep pace with the developer's changes.
2014: Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) mode released as an April Fools Day prank
In 2014, Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) mode was released for two weeks as an April Fools Day prank.
2014: Ubisoft Analyst on Player Spending
In 2014, an Ubisoft analyst estimated that only 4% of League of Legends players were paying customers.
April 2015: URF Mode Discontinued
In April 2015, Riot disclosed that Ultra Rapid Fire (URF) mode would not return due to its unbalanced design, leading to player burnout, and high maintenance costs.
2015: Comparison to Heroes of the Storm
In 2015, League of Legends was compared to Blizzard Entertainment's Heroes of the Storm, with the former being considered faster-paced but less accessible than the latter.
2016: Introduction of Hextech Chests
In 2016, "hextech chests" a loot box system were introduced. The chests are purchasable virtual and provide random cosmetics, a practice that has been criticized as a form of gambling.
2016: Esports Popularity
In 2016, League of Legends' esports events outshone traditional sports like the NBA, World Series, and Stanley Cup in terms of online viewership and in-person attendance.
2016: Music Team Expansion
In 2016, the League of Legends music team consisted of four full-time composers and a team of producers creating audio for the game and its promotional materials.
2017: Nomination for Best Esports Game at The Game Awards
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 Games reworked the Honor system in League of Legends, allowing players to award teammates with virtual medals for positive attributes, increasing their "Honor level" and rewarding them with free loot boxes over time.
2017: League System Composition
In 2017, the League of Legends system consisted of 109 teams and 545 players across the four main franchised systems.
2018: K/DA Debut with "Pop/Stars"
In 2018, K/DA, a virtual K-pop girl group, debuted with their single "Pop/Stars" at the League of Legends World Championship, gaining over 400 million views on YouTube.
2018: Nomination for Best Esports Game at The Game Awards and Sports Emmy Award
In 2018, League of Legends was nominated for Best Esports Game at The Game Awards for the second consecutive year and won Outstanding Live Graphic Design at the 39th Sports Emmy Awards for the 2017 world championship.
2018: Marvel Comics Collaboration Announcement and Comic Release
In 2018, Riot announced a collaboration with Marvel Comics and released the first comic, League of Legends: Ashe—Warmother, followed by League of Legends: Lux in the same year.
2018: Criticism of Female Character Designs
In 2018, reviewers criticized that the female characters in League of Legends resembled those in "horny Clash of Clans clones".
June 2019: Teamfight Tactics Release
In June 2019, Teamfight Tactics, an auto battler game, was released and later became a permanent game mode the following month.
2019: League of Legends Popularity and Tie-ins
In 2019, League of Legends maintained high popularity with eight million concurrent players and led to various tie-ins, including music, comic books, short stories, and the animated series Arcane. Several spin-off video games were also developed, like the mobile version and digital collectible card game, with a massively multiplayer online role-playing game in development.
2019: Best Esports Game at The Game Awards and Best Esports Event
In 2019, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards, and Riot won Best Esports Event for the 2019 League World Championships.
2019: True Damage Debut
In 2019, Riot Games created a virtual hip hop group called True Damage, and their debut song, "Giants", was performed live at the League of Legends World Championship opening ceremony, featuring a collaboration with Louis Vuitton.
2019: League of Legends: Lux Print Version Release
In 2019, a print version of the comic book League of Legends: Lux was released.
2019: 10th Anniversary Game Announcements
In 2019, for the 10th anniversary of League of Legends, Riot Games announced several new games directly related to the League of Legends IP.
2019: League of Legends World Championship Finals Viewership
In 2019, the League of Legends World Championship finals reached 44 million peak concurrent viewers.
March 2020: Teamfight Tactics Mobile Release
In March 2020, the standalone 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: K/DA Pre-Release Single "The Baddest"
In August 2020, Riot Games released "The Baddest", the pre-release single for All Out, the debut EP from K/DA.
December 2020: MMORPG Announcement
In December 2020, Greg Street of Riot Games announced that a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) based on League of Legends was in development.
2020: Best Esports Game at The Game Awards and Best Esports Event
In 2020, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards, and Riot won Best Esports Event for the 2020 League World Championships.
2020: League of Legends World Championship Finals Viewership
In 2020, Riot Games reported 45 million peak concurrent viewers for the League of Legends World Championship finals.
2020: Vanguard Developed for Valorant
In 2020, Riot developed Vanguard for their tactical shooter Valorant.
2020: Bilibili Streaming Rights
In Fall 2020, Bilibili acquired the rights to stream international League of Legends events in China for three years in a deal worth US$113 million.
April 2021: Riot Games' Regional Leagues
As of April 2021, Riot Games operated 12 regional leagues internationally, with China, Europe, Korea, and North America having franchised systems.
2021: Best Esports Game at The Game Awards
In 2021, League of Legends won Best Esports Game at The Game Awards for the third consecutive year.
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 multiple platforms including PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and Windows.
2021: Viego's Introduction to Pentakill
In 2021, Viego was introduced to the virtual heavy metal band Pentakill.
2022: Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story Announcement
The third-person adventure game Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story, revolving around the champion Nunu, was announced for a planned release in 2022.
May 2023: Implementation of Vanguard Anti-Cheat Software
Since May 2023, League of Legends has been using Riot's Vanguard anti-cheat software on Microsoft Windows devices.
November 1, 2023: Song of Nunu: A League of Legends Story Release
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 Games formed Heartsteel, a virtual boy band comprising League of Legends champions, and released their debut single "Paranoia" in October.
November 2024: Streamlining Player Rewards Announcement
In November 2024, Riot Games announced they would streamline player rewards, leading to widespread outrage and being described as the studio's "worst PR disaster in years".
November 2024: Arcane Season Two Premiere
In November 2024, the second and final season of Arcane premiered to similar acclaim, winning seven Annie Awards in all nominated categories.
2024: Game Director on Revenue Generation
At the 2024 Summer Game Fest, game director Pu Liu stated that revenue is primarily generated by a single-digit percentage of players, known as whales.
2024: Introduction of New Skin Tier
In 2024, Riot Games added a new skin tier to League of Legends, obtainable via an in-game slot machine mechanic. The cost could range from $200 to $430 and was criticized for resembling a "scam".
January 2025: Reward System Changes Reverted
In mid-January 2025, Riot Games partially reverted changes to the reward system, including halving the cost of purchasing a champion, and the return of "hextech chests" due to player feedback.
2025: Number of champions
As of 2025, League of Legends featured 170 champions available for play.
2025: Number of Champions and Visual Overhauls
As of 2025, League of Legends had 170 champions, with Riot Games periodically overhauling the visuals and gameplay of the oldest champions.
2025: Arcane Season 2 Home Media Releases Forthcoming
As of early 2025, home media releases for the second season of the television show Arcane are forthcoming.
2025: New Skin Controversy and Monetization Concerns
In early 2025, following layoffs and the announcement of a $430 "Hall of Fame" skin, a new skin tier was announced, leading to monetization concerns described by PC Gamer's Rick Lane as "whale chasing" and "psychological manipulation".
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