League of Legends Should Be Dead By Now
Why is League of Legends so dominant? This titan came out almost 15 years ago, and it still has more viewers and players globally than almost any other. Well, Riot knew something the competition didn't.
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Huge thanks to Rob for helping out with this video
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📃 Research Links
Washington Post article
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Gamecraft episode 1
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HoN goes free to play
www.pcgamer.com/heroes-of-new...
League player count
riftfeed.gg/more/player-count...
Game Informer on HoN
www.gameinformer.com/b/news/a...
First League tournament
www.esportsearnings.com/tourn...
Loss leadership strategy
www.investopedia.com/terms/l/...
League of Legends Esports Still Makes No Profit
80.lv/articles/league-of-lege...
OWL shuts down
www.playstationlifestyle.net/...
Viral LoL Worlds songs
www.esports.net/wiki/guides/l...
League of Legends on Spotify
open.spotify.com/artist/47mIJ...
HoN Reddit post
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Data Informed Decisions with the Champions of League of Legends
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Tyler1 compilation
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No
there are also some most viewed games out there like minecraft , among us ( probably ) , gta , fall guys , etc .
And there mlbb
@@code066funkinbird3nah it's declining all thanks of Moonton's betrayal of V33wise and V33's return to League community
League's lore will never die, but maybe its competitive scene will.
So heartwarming to see a small company like Riot Games being featured in a segment on a video about Super Auto Pets, one of the best and most hype games ever.
and steal content and ideas? :D
Best...?
I see what you did there. But it was a good video, and so I appreciate the sponsorship of it. Does super auto pets feature any pet with a playstyle similar to Heimerdinger?
Juice me, squeeze me, roll me, roll me, freeze me 🥚
Super Auto Pets is literally getting out of hand. These too big to fail companies must be stopped
League will never die. You can hate the game but you will always come back for more. Sure some has left the game completely but most of us don't.
true.. not all people love that shoooting style kind of hype game anyway..
_Stockholm Syndrome But Better_
@@jondandavekinanahan7488 _* Stockholm Syndrome But Worse_ lol, you're being held hostage *_by_* your own will
Sadly, after riot started playing moral police and banning people in ranked for words taken out of context but not for inting made me quit, i don't have time to play 5 normal games because i wrote something to myself, and i'm not the only one
a few year late you change your comment
Because Cancer is hard to kill
actual truth
😂
was going to say the same thing.
🤣
🤣
I remember randomly stumbling upon dota 1.0 in the custom games when I got bored of Warcraft TFT. I got instantly hooked. I never thought a custom mod would grow to a size this massive.
Did you even watch the video? its not about the mod, its about the accessability and brand.
Have you ever heard about other little mod called CounterStrike?
@@grlt23 or DayZ- pretty sure half life started that way as well didnt it
LoL is based on DOTA 1, which was a mod/custom map on WC3. That's what he's saying we never expected all this to come from it.
@@alinn.4341 don't care dota best league trash
As a league of legends player since early 2012 I can tell you the bigger reasons why league became huge in latam are that the game could be played on any potato pc (back in the day most of us had crappy pcs) and that it was free, add that they released dedicated latin american (not Spaniard) voice acting in 2013 with its own servers and it was destined to be huge in the region.
Basically, the same recipe that worked for Russia, but for Latinskaâ Amêrika.
8 years ago, my PC got broken and i've managed to make LoL work on an old winXP. We never needed a break, because my friends and me had a couple minutes to get food and go to toilet while loading screen. xDD
@@friedaliora5640 back in the day loading screens used to take forever, I had a friend that fas infamous in the group for loading slow (back when you used to see individual loadings) once I was getting ready to go out and i took a quick shower while we loaded lol
agree, this is one of the huge reasons they made it
For me it was the time it came out. I was waiting for Dota 2 like a child was waiting for his birthday. But league came out 1-2 years earlier. In this time they took all the people who never played moba games from the market and bound them to their product.
I quit playing league a long time ago, but I always watch the competitive scene. There is just something magical when Worlds comes around
Script writers went wild this worlds I'm not gonna lie.
Agreed' Also some of their songs! KDA was my first K-Pop addiction
You can leave the game, but you can't leave the community inside it.
same 👊
I freaking love this years worlds!
love an underdog story! now the passion behind Arcane makes so much sense. it wasn't accidental, they knew the system and played it perfectly
I haven't played League in a while but it's always going to be the go-to for me and my friends when we do get the chance. Truly a legendary game
League is not just a game. It's a whole universe that offers something to everyone. You like the competitive gameplay? They've got ranked games. You like the art and lore? Check out Arcane. You enjoy the lore but prefer experiencing it yourself through a game? There's Legends of Runeterra. You are into pro players? They never disappoint with Worlds. It's a rewarding experience no matter which direction you go. I started playing League in 2012 (and developed a massive celebrity crush on Piglet lmao) but the art and lore kept me in the universe. Now I find myself traversing through the regions in Legends of Runeterra.
nerd
Omg Piglet fan like me!
real lol even in LoR you get multiple directions to go. Feeling competitive? Play rank or pvp. Or if you are salty getting dominated by players (like me xD), play path of champions instead. I'm so invested in Vayne cards rn. My favorite interaction is between her and kind-hearted recruit. ("My sister's no monster, Vayne. You'll see" - "Is that so? Then where did you get that scar?")
Wow...if those were the standards you set for everything the Riot Games have made with their product, I suggest you explore something else instead. Riot Games is a company that's promoting this toxic, addictive gaming culture and they want people like you to get drown into it. I hate to say this but you have to stop having this unrealistic vision of them, or else it will be too late for you to pull yourself out of this situation.
same with every company i mean look at blizzard, or much more extreme like coke, pepsi and every other softdrinks yet people drink it anyway even knowing that its bad for thier health in the long run
They really owe it to marketing and lore. The creatives at Riot have built a world that is both interesting and aesthetically pleasing enough that there's really no competition.
The only competition is blizzard tbh. They have great lore too
@@lihdegu8294 except recently they've been butchering that aspect of their IPs too. It just feels like they don't care anymore, but Riot keeps doing things they don't have to for the sake of their story.
@@lihdegu8294 blizzard has been committing slow suicide for multiple years at this point.
@@BrontiThor What's ironic about that is that Riot reset the world and basically said that Arcane and LoR are cannon (in the last month or two). So all the lore I've learnt from LoL are moot.
@@lihdegu8294they had good lore, the last five expansions have had a ton of terrible plot points and writing. I agree though that the cinematics, lore, arcane series and other media for league continue to both fascinate and excite many including myself
As someone who loves where business & gaming intersect found this insanely fascinating.
Great video. Probably the first time I've heard of business guys being the beginning instead of a designer or dev and it working out well.
what a time to upload this, one hour before the finals of worlds 2023 xD
they planned it all along
almost like it was the plan all along
I haven’t played a single game if league in 3 years. I still watch streams and worlds. I hope it doesn’t die, it truly is a great game, even with all the flaws and toxic community.
Nothing connects more than toxocity
you stopped playing bc u suck at league
Well. I don't know which competitive game doesn't have a toxic community, though. Of course the devs could do even more about it but Riot isn't the worst in giving out bans etc
Its not toxic anymore, they punish u for saying the word "nuts" trust me. As for great game that is debatable imo
Same. but I only hook with their pouring on budget for movies and music video. Someone gotta run the mouse wheel and I got more to wat ch.
I really appreciate you for making this video. It gives us a glimpse of the game's start and how it all came to be.
As a guy who has been playing the game for 10 years its truly nostalgic to me watching this. And I have felt the popularity evolving every year, the game was getting more and more famous and better. Riot really did a great job with the game and really killed the competition. The game has no competition in its niche.
dota2 is the lesser and boring MOBA
@@piedrablanca1942 i wouldnt say dota 2 is boring its just slower, for some players they prefer that slow paced gameplay. I dont doe so thats why i prefer league
Are you challenger yet?
@@myst6387 10 years still gold gg no re
Legends never die. Nah but seriously it's kind of crazy. I've had my account since S1 and kind of fell out of love a bit after S8 where I hit my all-time peak(D4). This is my first season going unranked. I will say though the memories I've had with this game are fucking crazy. I just don't think I'll ever go back to my prime. Probably just ARAMs every now and then.
aram is the retirement place
it wont die because people are so busy playing it, most of the time they do not share what happen
@@uhmatcha1167 IKR. hahahah. years ago, my friends were hard sweating in the game. now, we just chill in aram.
maybe they know that if you reach your ranking target you will stop caring about the game. So they make the climbing experience as much miserable as possible
Maybe you will. I've been playing for about 10 years since season 2/3, though I played casually at first. I peaked Diamond in Season 7 and I've been playing casually with just ARAM's since then, only playing about 20 ranked games a year to reach Diamond and get the border and then going back to ARAM. This year I decided to give ranked a go, and in just a couple of months I hit Grandmaster playing only Teemo because he's fun as hell. Top 300 of the entire continental ladder. Not that there's anything wrong with playing casually, I did that for years. But if you put some dedication to it, even without sweating it, you can get back to your prime and beyond pretty easily
Fantastic video. One small thing I'd mention is that HoN's downfall was probably more due to Dota2 than LoL. The video was focusing on LoL's rise so not a big deal. For anyone who doesn't know, HoN went with the idea that it was a true successor for the original Dota while LoL wanted to be its own thing. The true successor idea was crushed when Dota 2 came out and directly ported everything from Dota 1. HoN carried on for a long while (props to them for keeping going for so long) but the creation of Dota 2 effectively neutered HoN's main marketing angle.
yea the video is kind of based removing important context to make riot look more better. 30% of what was said is false in this video
@@jeremyjohn93 Yeah there are definitely a few things he says that are intentionally vague or just downright misinformation to make Riot seem more innovative than they really are. There were definitely tons of free-to-play MMOs when League dropped, mostly Eastern games, but there were still many successful western ones such as D&D online and RuneScape. He mentions competitive releasing in 2010 as a response to competition, but then shows HotS and Pokemon Unite, which didn't drop until 2015 and 2021 respectively.
@@LBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLBLB Also the whole scandal when they took down the DotA All-Star forum while hiring Pendragon to redirect DotA players towards LoL, or the whole legal fight with Blizzard and Valve and the part they played in it. Agreed, the video looks good, but the content is far from accurate.
yeah make sense...
😅😅😅😅 I'm😅😅😅😅😅
I've literally played LoL since launch while stationed in Okinawa through today. Its really cool to see how this has grown from just a handful of champs to scrolling screens of choices. I've liked it mainly because it has a start and stop of each fight vs games like WoW and Warhammer that just go on and on.
I've always been interested in league since 2013 but 1. i didn't have computer and 2.I felt like it was too technical. Now there are thousands of online tutorials, tips and even gamers teaching. That's what makes league feel alive. If you go search any other game that came around that time or even after the communities are dead by now. Even though there's toxic players in the game, outside the game there are friendly ppl who are passionate and wiling to introduce you to the game.
it will never die becuse like counter strike, it stuck in peoples culture of the esport genre so it is instantly looked at before anything else as it is the bigest one, while also rewarding people with alot money in competetive scene that no new moba could give to its playerbase, valorant also got people playing it becuse riot got the big budget from league since the release making once again competetive worth for people that go after the money and are intrested in e sports
It doesn't matter how much Riot shit on their playerbase, people will always come back to play it because they are stuck with their intellectual property: the champions, their habilities, summoner's rift map, etc. It's the game where their skill will best shine, despite the company's soul crushing neglect in maintaining a competitive environment in it's ranked queues. If pirating the game was legal and someone implemented a better queue system & voice chat with the same champions and map, riot would go bankrupt the next day
@@paulojose7568You're right. But I just wanna point out that the main problem isn't with the queue system, the game itself has massive flaws, and it cannot be fixed anymore. People still play it because they are still addicted to it and somehow couldn't snap themselves out of it just yet. The game will die soon enough, we just need to wait until it's official.
@@Daofro00 I don't think I'm that great but thank you for your compliment, I appreciate that! Yup, Riot is an evil company and we have to stop promoting any of their games for the sake of the younger generation!
@@Cp-yx4cior people like the game and dont hate it with a passion, maybe just maybe you stop being riots number 1 black knight
@@bullettime1116 I'll say you stop being a fanboy of Riot Games and start waking yourself up from this nightmare!
I play since S5, and I don't think I will ever leave the game for good. (I've tried, but always come back) Even when I go months without playing, I never stop watching lol streamers and esports, and that (eventually) makes me want to play again
do you think riot neglects the competitive integrity in their ranked queues?
same for me. started in 2016 but i was unable to match the skill of the other player and left the game and picked it back in 2020 during the lockdowns and actually enjoyed playing since then
How old are you?
I always regret coming back.
@@susans-dead-son Same yet I still keep coming back haha
I have been playing League since Season 3, I haven't touched it in a while (almost 2 years now), it was a love-hate relationship in the end. What I can say is it brought some of the best gaming moments with our community of friends while growing up, heck I still have a few of their Worlds songs on the shuffle for when I'm driving around, so much time has passed listening to the InstaLock songs, Tyler1, Trick2g, Necrit going through the LoL lore. There was a lot to be desired when playing league sometimes but you gotta admit they got a lot of things right. The community that was built around it was amazing. They often listened to the players and implemented changes to the system; especially with trolls and in game disconnections. I I have a wife and daughter now and we watched the Arcane series on Netflex when it aired, I really enjoyed giving the wife some back story on some of the characters and feeling somewhat proud to have been part of the LoL project. I think looking back I'd spent around $200-250 on the game in 7 years or so of playing. GG RITO.. GG
This video does a great job of highlighting a few aspects to LoL's success. But I think it left out a critical part of Riot's feat - which is to make the player(s) feel connected to the different kingdoms, heroes, and overall lore. DotA has an expansive lore, but we don't feel as connected to the heroes and one might ask: why is that? I think Riot has wisely invested in great looking CGI trailers, making small articles on the in-game board containing small snippets or paragraphs relating to the heroes/lands. And when a hero is about to be released, they would make a very nice little trailer to highlight it. Riot even went so far as to create a VTube group that combines English and Korean-speaking idols. Which other game has done that? If you invest in your fans, your fans will invest in you.
While i think that does apply in more recent times, the original game had pretty much zero lore, i played it in beta and it was a lore-desert pretty much. I'm trying to catch up to some of the lore now, but just saying, it has really changed, they fleshed it out over time
I have played maybe two bot matches of LoL but I love watching worlds with my sons. The animation, Arkane, was also so good that it makes me want to know more about the world and lore.
yes! the eSport side of League is amazing, It's just like physical sports but more strategic. I just wished that other regions would really get into more the competitiveness of major regions.
@@izshtar as someone who watches both football (soccer) and league e sports it is not more strategic football has 1000s of diff strategies and formations and evolves BUT league e sports is the most strategic e sports and is the closest e sports to actual sports since each role is unique and plays diff purposes and roles which makes it more interesting to watch then fps e sports
@@HealthiestWellbeing that's true actually since you'd have to need your mind and physical body at the same time, I like to think of League as a Chess Game. I like FPS eSports as well but more on the Valorant Scene since i enjoy it watching more often than CS.
The lore was better than MCU tbh
@@izshtar Yeh league is like a chess game since even the drafting stage is tense because you are trying to see what the other team wants while trying to set your team up for a counter draft all around a great e sport from the draft stage to the nexus siege
As someone who started playing League in Season Two, it REALLY has come a long way, even if there's still some problems to this day.
oh yes season 2 when we used to unistall the game when we saw jax coming even if it was all 5 of us together when yi players hit W on ap yi and went to the bathroom when my teammate lux had 6 death cap when a game went 60 minute because both yi and jax's full build is 3 infinity edge and 2 phantom dancer yea great memories :D
As someone who started playing League in Season 2, it really has most of what made it fun and challenging, I haven’t played in 3 years, and I intend never to play it again
@@aligmal5031 this gave me some nostalgia. I started playing in S2 and stopped at S5; terrible waste of college years lmao.
@@AdamOwenBrowning same i also miss the seasonal maps where it used to snow in the rift in winter they don't do that anymore :'c
Dominion. Day 1 broken champions (Diana, Irelia, Etc). SivHD. Only one server, babel tower with Russian, Korean, Chinese, Dutch, etc all on same team. Busted champions that took long for them to patch (I remember hating riven for YEARS before they finally realized she needed her legs broken).
You are so nice for putting the ad in the end. Thank you for the video
In short, Riot Games understands Loss Leader business model
When you think it's about to die, there will be a 6M+ peak viewers will pop-up. Largest ever in E-Sports history. Truly, legends never die.
Also a snorefest.
Well China and the far east have enough young idiots willing to invest a half a decade of their lives into this mind numbing garbage because they have soo much free time and nothing useful to do to occupy their minds because of their current station in life - its a babysitting tool for asian parents.
"legends never die" I sang it, not read it
@@HighLanderPonyYTWeibo wasn't supposed to be in the finals in the first place. It's not their fault their bracket had unbelievable chokers lol
let be honest most of it was because of Faker, can say for my self, only watched the last match of last year and this year worlds because faker was playing, wanted to see the player I grew up watching dominating my generation getting another title, was a nostalgic experience, after he retires I think no more worlds for me probably, already skipping most of the matchs for 3 worlds in a row
I'm done with league but very interested in the expanded ip. Arcane, project L, the music, etc. The more they do with it, the better. So much potential and they're actually using it. Can't complain about the pace too much when pretty much everything they make outside of the game is gold. It's a crying shame that when arcane dropped league players everywhere was telling arcane hands don't play league. They need other projects to funnel new fans to.
i tried league soley because of arcane. there wasnt really much of a good tutorial so i was so confused i gave up after like 2-3 tries, and i play games semi regularly. I think it'd be nice if they could toggle on a more explanative tutorial
Agreed. I'm actually of the opinion that the game itself is the worst thing about League of Legends. I played it for a while but everybody is such a tryhard on it; you get flamed for making minor mistakes and I'm like "I just created this account last week; of course I'm not good." Arcane, on the other hand, is a show that's so good I'd rate it higher than Game of Thrones. Riot knocks things out of the park, and even the game wouldn't be that bad if the player base wasn't as toxic.
@@SolarstormflareYes absolutely it's hard to begin with. I started playing back in 2014 and for me and my friends (this helps a lot) it was like an adventure. Finding new champions with different abilities and learning how to deal with them was very funny, finding things you didn't know you could do etc... But then your friends stop playing and you're in love with the game so you start focusing on ranked and getting better, you meet some awesome people in-game and one blink later you have a whole squad of very nice people who are willing to play together and grow as a team. Or you can find the most toxic players online that have ever existed, it's truly a matter of luck at the beginning but if you behave well you'll find more nice people than toxic people, I personally had no much problems with toxic or AFK people, and I think it all depends on your honor level, the people you play with, and your behavior obviously.
@Solarstormflare there should be an extensive tutorial at the ice map. You can play against bots or solo for a few games. It teaches last hitting minions, which gives you a lot of gold over time, so that you can buy items.
I've already told several people who enjoyed Arcane to not bother playing League. League players can find League in Arcane, but don't bother looking for Arcane in League, because you won't find it. And the learning curve is way too steep to pick up casually.
I quit playing League like 6 years ago after playing since Season 2 and it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. For me, it seemed like the game had lost its charm, and the length of solo queue games combined with the lack of reward was disheartening. The highest rank I got was Platinum 1, and that was the most fun I had when playing. After that, I stayed in Gold, probably due to my declining interest in having to research what was meta or not. The nail in the coffin for me was when I called someone a fuckhead in one of my games and I got ranked rewards taken away. After that, I said to hell with this game. I remember asking Gbay99 during one of his streams if he thought League would ever die, and he said he doesn't see that ever happening. Looks like he was right. Great video!!!
Great video! It appears that having a great business model is the cornerstone of starting a new business. The product can and will most likely be lackluster at first. The business model is what will help keep the company going during the early years. Later on, innovate and polish the product in order to keep the company going.
The amount of memories I've made playing league with friends makes up for all the unpleasnt experiences I've had with randoms. Literally met some of the most important people in my life because I started playing league, that I otherwise wouldn't.
My brother and I actually flew out to meet some of our league friends in Chicago for LCS summer finals in 2022, one of my best memories as an adult.
@@devilkingaming4619 Good to hear you had fun! I feel like league gets a lot of slack for being toxic, but the few good people you meet are worth it. It's crazy to think that half of my friends wouldn't be my friends if I didn't decide to hop on one random evening and play solo. I even met my boyfriend on league hahaha. Hope you make more memories with your buddies, and hope they get even better next time! It's such a good feeling to meet your online friends irl
This X 100. Even with all the hate League gets for having a toxic playerbase, TBH I've played a lot of games and never found it uniquely bad among other big PVP team-based games. What I do know about are the amazing friendships that I've maintained over the years by just hopping on my favorite game. In high school, I had a group of friends and we'd all procrastinate on our homework and projects, going on long losing streaks while playing, but having a blast all the while, trying to get our first win of the day. I even have a friend who met her husband on League and they recently had a child.
Why isnt chess dead? How come no one has made a chess killer?
@@demonseed360 Exactly!!! Plus all the funny clips of people being angry(even friends) still make me die of laughter everytime I see them. I'm really happy to hear these good experiences from people, it's validating that I ain't insane and that it's not actually that bad. Personally always felt way worse playing games like CS and getting flamed. I also feel like it helps you manage your emotions when dealing with unpleasant people. Also hope your friends are doing well with the new addition to their family:D
It’s a shame that you didn’t mention how Riot Pendragon literally closed the DOTA all-stars forums permanently and made it so that the only thing visible on the page was a link to the League of Legends beta lmao
Obligatory "fuck Pendragon"
Also how they stole champion ideas from these forums (like Rammus and Teemo) and then cleared their tracks by wiping the forum data
in Vietnam, League was advertised as DotA 2. And I meant no joke. Back in the era where 90% of Internet coffe's pc in Vietnam is about playing DotA, and they advertised League as DotA 2.
Guess he owned those forums?
Tommy Tallarico really immortalized himself with this one. I bet his mom is so proud.
Back in early 2000s I was working in a local gaming cafe (no internet, only LAN games). When Warcraft 3 was released, aside the regular RTS we played a lot of the map "WarChasers". Since I had plenty of time on my hands, one day I got curios and I was wondering if there were other maps such as 'WarChasers', and thats when I found the "Three corridors" map. At first I had no idea what to do and how to play it, but got the ropes pretty fast. That day I introduced it to my friends and Counter Strike fell to the 2nd place of most played game in our neighbourhood. I had no idea how far that thing would go. =)
I stopped playing League, but I am looking forward to their MMO, watched Arcane, watched Worlds and played LoR. My heart will always be with Nasus and Shurima.
*looks at avatar* checks out
I just play legend of runeterra
"Perhaps Shurima was meant to fall"
This is still crazy to me. I started playing League in 2011, and while I don’t play regularly today, it is still a wonder to watch and play when I get the time. They were way ahead of their time and the business model they had was outstanding. Legends never die, I will remember this game fondly (despite the rage) for the rest of my life.
One thing that I never hear talked about is how much effort League puts into is community management. I remember devs building entirely new systems and tech that they gave seminars on to better manage the community and cut down on toxicity. Even today despite it's admittedly deserved reputation for toxic behavior the game has more tools then most to report and censor toxic behavior, it's just that the game is so big and so old at this point the community is nigh impossible to police and full of to many veterans unforgiving of beginner mistakes even in the low ranks and levels.
They failed to cut down the toxicity. U can just team-report one player and system just hammer-reported player without context or a reason. And they "fix" most time the problems that doesn't exist. Like "spam-ping" or chat-restrictions. Veterans just can READ and THINK. They have experience. New players can't even choose masteries(runes) without porofessor or smt like that crap. No one likes a burden for the team. Now in league reality in 1 game with 4 good players and 1 bad player is equal to the lost game.
@@user-xx2tp5bo4p found the dude who only just plays league of legends and is currently in a losing streak lmfao You see, unlike you, I've played tons of IPs and competitive environments, and none are even as remotely close as Riot is in terms of community engagement relative to size. Even Counter Strike fumbled because they were dumb enough to think "PS4 Graphics - better competitive game".
@@hachiko2692 Unlike you, i has around 4 hundred IPs only in my steam library, most of them are slashers/shooters, a bunch of RPGs, some old(or very old games) and a little of competitive RTS. and ofc Battlebrawlers (i sure u don't even know what type of a games is this) Unlike you i'v seen good and bad games. And i say to you, my little commentator, that Riot is one of the most incompetent, irresponsible and greedy company in this decade. Charges 2-3x$ price for a watermark in indie game that can be developed by a 10 good people instead of a 200 CEOs(these are not bad games though) They don't even want to fix problems in their own client "and none are even as remotely close as Riot is in terms of community engagement relative to size." - no one cares about bunch of apes. That's not an argument. Most of the "community" don't play their games. I appreciate the work(games), not media hysteria. "Even Counter Strike fumbled because..." CS if outdated. If developer can - he change, improve engine and fix the bugs. Visual clarity is by all means more important is Shooters, so they change how things look. U are not competitive. U are hypocrite.
meanwhile in SEA.. you can play DOTA easily on Computer cafes through cracked Warcraft III, either play LAN and play with your friends or another friend group to challenge them, if you don't have friends, you can play online through Garena servers. When Riot wants to get ahold of the SEA region, Garena stepped in to handle the servers for Riot's behalf but Garena milked the playerbase until recently when Riot finally stepped down their foot.
1. The free to pay model 2. Worlds The pro scene exploded in 2012 with the tsm house, moscow 5 rivally and worlds got huge every year out doing the last and the league system in 2013 was the major change that riot pushed hard most likely at a loss that made them stand above everyone else. I've never been invested in any of sport outside of football until League game around which to me is really unusual to be that invested in a game but it's not so much the game but the great cast, crew, players, the events, music, special effects, they like the Walt Disney of online gaming lol Defo the best at making epic showcase tbh I'm not really interested in playing the game nowadays but I still love the passion for the competitive scene
3. Lore 4. Skins
Riot Skins sucks, can't even customize or sell lol@@Seroxm13
@@daghetto101so you want to transmog sections of "armor" with different skins? I mean I guess that's a nifty feature, but just like how things get really tacky (cause not everyone has great fashion/aesthetic sense) in R6 and WoT, I'd rather just turn off skins of other people... which basically defeats the point of skin flex. and TBH, skins marketplace is a very toxic feature to me. I mean I guess people get a hard on with CSGO's system, but really I just want to play the game man, having to also think about a digital stock exchange is just... too much trouble?
@@daghetto101 as someone who have played many games and that mainly play them for the skins (there isn't someone as addicted to game skins and cosmetics as me), LoL by far has the best skins! They are that great, that you don't even have to customize them like others. When you have to cusomize it, it's because the original skin sucked. Plus LoL has chromas if you want a little change.
@@daghetto101 So they suck because they are not customizable and you cant sell it, not because they are artistically worse. Yeah, I dont want gambling in my game, keep your selling system.
The Worlds are not just "still big" they are still growing. Over 6 million viewers for the worlds final is insane in Esport terms. Also Riots storytelling in Esports, setting up rivalries and storyline like this years Ruler and the Golden Road vs Faker being Thanos war insanely well written. Giving the GOAT like 4 killer lines in the hype trailers did so much work.
It's insane for sports, period. If we count the chinese viewership, it could reach like 50m people watching at the same time. This is the equivalent of sports like basketball, baseball, etc...
51m viewer on china 😂
@@vinoalvin9924the number wasn't even finalized.
the International > Worlds
@@Gungrave123 but, every CS Majors Final > the International
I really would have liked you to go more into detail on your last part. Because Riot's decision to go into other games around Leagues world (excluding valorant) is quite recent. They are building a world only seen before by Blizzard with Warcraft and they are doing such an amazing job to show it in depth. Not even now but also the plan for the future. There has never been such a high quality cross channel game universe, different games, mobile apps, trailer videos, music, esports, series and more. Especially the quality focus where freedom of art is allowed that we rarely see today. Right now it all seems to lead to the creation of the MMO, which needs so much more preperation with world building and the combination with an actually extremely well made series on netflix focussing on in depth characters is pure genius for me. I'm very ecited to see whats coming over the next years, even though I'm not even playing their games anymore. Also: I think there is one big point missing in your analysis. The market thinking between the western world and china. There are definitely other reasons to criticise Tencent, but they play such a big part in this success story as they allow this freedom of creation and don't interfere how the game is made (in the market outside china) while also providing all the money that is needed. There are just sooo many bad examples of western stock corporations where the executives made decisions that harm the game, be that harsh deadlines, foced business models or other things where people made decisions who have no clue about the target audience. This never seemed to happen with Riot games, not even after such a long time.
After watching this multiple times, something tells me that Riot understands the business model. I could be wrong though
I associate this game with the fact that for a long time I didn't know what atmosphere this game was in, I had to ask if it was fantasy or sci-fi
It's mostly fantasy. While there is Zaun and Piltover that has tech that's sci-fi. The source of it has always been magic like everything else in the lore.
@@Martin-yh7vi Thanks
It's Warcraftverse
1:50 These are minor issues. Being randomly disconnected and not being able to rejoin were the greatest ones. If the game ended with all 10 players present it was a little miracle.
Ok grandpa let's get you to bed
What was worse is that with Heros of the storm it still happened. If you lost connection for half a second then it had to resynch with the game and took minutes to recover. If that happened and the game finished in the period while the game tried to recover, you where flaged as having left on purpose.
the load times were pretty average for an RTS at that time. also your explanation of dota as a "mod of one of the maps" is bizarre. it wasnt a "mod", it was a custom map. wc3 came with a built in custom map editor of which there were thousands
The Cinematic is fire broo🔥🔥
Learning that heroes of newerth died in 2022 hurts, because i spent years trying to remember that old moba game i played way back when, and i just found it today in your video. Knowing i couldv still played just 1-2 years ago is so frustrating 😢
I remember back in 2010 when there was a champion suggestion board on the riot forum website. I remember Riot adapting tons of player suggestions including my idea of a vampire-like champion with a slavic name focused on life drain and with an untargetable W accompanied with a drawing I did during class. Those were the glory Days of League
now it is one of the most hated champion 😂
So you were the culprit? Haha
You're welcome
Holy!! You are a legend bro 😂
Thanks for giving me my main
On top of this, the fighting game they are working on looks like it has strong potential to be a huge hit in the FGC and they are also working on an MMO too. I'm stoked.
There are 2 types of League of Legends players. Those who hate the game and those in denial of the fact that they hate the game. Both of these camps are addicted to the game because that is the only way you can still be playing this game.
Great video! Thanks for pointing out the differences in strategies of different companies.
Totally didn't expect to see Super Auto Pets to be mentionned in a short analysis/story about League and it made me smile in the most wholesome way haha, great game !
SAP is probably the best mobile game Ive ever played.
I'm so baffled at the mention. Did this guy make it or something?
One good reason I think is overlooked is the lower skill floor compared to it's contemporaries. It was much simpler as there was less things to worry about. No need to deny minions. No need to use carriers or the secret shop. Free recalls. Standardization of skill mapping to QWER. No turn rates. These and more were that accessibility which allowed more people to play. I'm not saying that League is easy to learn, or that it doesn't have a high skill ceiling (There was plenty of exiting high mechanical plays this recent Worlds). I'm also not saying that the simple approach is always better (plenty of MOBAs failed because they were too bare-bones, and DOTA 2 shows that there is still a market for more complex play)
I would rather use the word systematic. But yeah you made a really good point.
its*
no need to deny minions? my guy
Just gotta say is what keeps league alive for me is ARAM, I don’t have to worry, strategize, worry about counter picks, long game unwinable commitments, autofills. I get the satisfaction of a fun character to play without having to grind and build correctly like other games.
I remember playing Warcraft 3 and trying out Dota, they even had a version that was strictly PVP without the waves of minions. That got me hooked. I tried League a few years after its release and wasn’t sure how I felt about it. I played Dota 2 and realized that League just felt more natural and fluid. Years later as much as we all can joke about hating League aggressively. We all inevitably love it dearly and can’t help but get that same feeling we all felt years prior and continue to stride to be better.
Its how re playable the game is. League is very deep, even if on the surface it might not seem like it. I equate it to chess; the board stays the same but the possibility of moves and potential to outsmart your opponent is infinite. I took many breaks over the years but eventually find myself coming back because its the only game that can still get my blood pumping.
If its equateable to chess, people would play chess just as much. People play LoL more because of addiction. Funny how the addicts show all the signs of it, especially trying to "explain" why it's something else. (it isn't, everyone just sees and hears ur addicted, except for other addicts.).
@@grumpyginger9783sounds like cope to me. Would you say I'm addicted to playing football since it gets my blood pumping? Same with League, it makes me think faster for outsmart moments
@@summonerbraddysg51 No, you just say it gets your blood pumping. Thats a hobby/passion, not an addiction. When you start to try to explain to others and/or yourself why it's the best thing ever and why it's okay to spend all your time on it, even when it's clear that it's affecting you negatively, that's when it becomes an addiction. Football addicts do exist tho, I'm sure you know people like that.
@@summonerbraddysg51 "potential to outsmart your opponent is infinite" that applies to close to all forms of competition. It's not unique to league. When people think it's a rare thing, it shows that they have never seen any other competitive games, probably because all their time already is in LoL. It's literally how the game is designed to work, last hitting is the most addictive thing in gaming next to lootboxes and headshots. Riot won't even hide that if you look into it.
No hard feelings tho. League is a fun game. I completely stopped playing because of the community not accepting people who have good mechanics but didn't spend 1000 hours learning all champions (i'm lvl 40 and get matched with lvl 300+ constantly because of that. those games are extra toxic to put it lightly). I thought normal matches are for learning champions, well my teammates disagreed. So I played csgo instead and got addicted, am still bad but can't stop playing. I feel the need to explain to people that it equates to chess :p then my LoL addicted friend compares LoL to chess for the 100th time. Ur not alone buddy :D
So accurate. I’ve been playing league for close to 10 years now and I’m 20 years old. It seems like there’s no point in my life where I can leave League for long enough to forget about it. My friends and I all watch Worlds together every year, every game. It’s truly such a big part of my life. ❤ Thanks Rito
the first 5 seconds is literally the last time my Janna has been viable to the competitive scene :< she's like a forgotten champ on pro play now. I really hope she emerge again :
"Where's the single player? Why is it free to play?" I have the same questions a lot these days tbh
Your videos are like Jason Schriers book in video format I love it!
Your explanation with HoN vs LoL was on point. I was at a small "LAN" party with two friends and they insisted that we played HoN, didn't have any money to buy it.. Saw an ad for a free game called league of legends clash of clans and we decided to play that instead.
In a nutshell: Riot understood from DAY ONE that a temporary loss in profit that favours a lasting investement in retention, means a huge profit gain in the long run. Something that literally every single other big gamedev doesnt understand. Just see the multiplayer titles from EA, Ubisoft, Blizzard, Activision, Bungie, etc and notice how they always bet on "profit here and now, or profit never" and see what happened to their titles and franchises. Riot willingly threw money away knowing it would bring more money back, wich is why while every other game fades and fails... League remains.
League WOULD be dead if they didn't have the knack for acquiring decent talent who are able to flesh out their side projects and secondary games/income streams so we all forget that we secretly stopped caring about Summoner's Rift years ago and all just want to go to a KDA show and take drugs.
Thats actually an insane story. Heros of Newerth was nearly the league of legends of today, had they just chosen a different approach. Amazing story.
I believe the issue with HoN wasn't just the business model, but the fact that it was an exact mirror-copy of Dota. What I mean is that one way or another, Dota 2 was going to kill HoN.
@@heavens_drive090 I believe this legit would have happened. +there really was a lot of bugs.
@@heavens_drive090yes, it's funny how in the video he never mentions Dota 2, even though it was the game that killed HoN, even with better model it would still be worse than Dota 2
@@davidblaine9795 same, I was surprised how the video said LoL killed HoN when it was in fact Icefrog leaving HoN for Dota 2 led to the lack of direction of HoN.
Except it wasn't a mirror copy of Dota. Heroes had slightly different kits, for one. @@heavens_drive090
The intro itself is the answer. The league creators are not developers, they’re business men.
Hi, great video! What is the song playing in the background from 0:18 to 0:32?
The story of League Of Legends in few words is : Everybody tought the L comes from Looser But it comes from Legends
That is a strong, strong mustache 💪
4:51 Seeing these 3 questions today, knowing the "norms" of the gaming industry nowadays, is probably the most bizarre thing I've experienced this month. "Where's the singleplayer? Why is it free to play?" If only they knew that there will be a frickin Call of Duty game only 10 years later that completely lacks a singleplayer campaign, and then the next one would offer a multiplayer mode for free, which would later define Call of Duty for the youngest generation (which is kinda sad but this is not the point). And yes, I can always feel the slight tingle in my stomach every year when Worlds is right around the corner. The hype I get every time I listen to the new Worlds Anthem for the first time is bigger than any sporting event (except for F1 races). The lore is also very intricately written and well though-out. I'm so hyped for Hwei, the newest champion as of now, because he's connected to Jhin, one of my favourite characters, not just in League of Legends, but in the entire gaming history. And then Riot decided to skyrocket itself and develop another game which will draw in players through the lore and the world building, their MMO RPG. I can't wait to play it (although we might have to wait for a few years still).
League has this model where you have to buy champions before you can play it which was entirely a new concept in the dota scene but they still managed to convert a lot of people in my region. what a beast
I don't think the success of early League is ONLY due to being free to play, but it also had less system requirements than their competitors, allowing for people aside from America to play it easily (Same thing that happened with WoW before)
Very indepth and insightful video. I like your breakdowns of the video game industry, they're truyly eye opening. Keep it up.
I think this video really showcases how important Ryze and Tryndamere are to Riot's success. Where a lot of gaming companies are either nerdy gamers scrambling to run a business or non-gamer businessmen looking to make a quick buck, Ryze and Tryndamere are gamers with great business sense, and they founded a model with global popularity and influence that has sustained League's life well beyond that of other games.
and that "loss leadership" thing? i honestly never heard of that. i only ever hear about companies losing money after failing, or losing money because they gamble and lose. but i've never heard of a company spending at a calculated loss only to make tons more after.
@@Hadeto_AngelRust It's actually a very well known strategy, though at the time it wasn't exactly a thing for the video game industry (though I'm no expert on that, so likely there are others that did it) Common one is cheap, or even free, salty snacks in bars and such; causing people to get thirsty and order more drinks. Another one is that amusement parks will generally try to get at least one 'expensive' ride as the flagship, so that people are coming over for the chance to try it out, while the rest are there to pad the time. Hell, the ticket price earns less than they get from all the other stuff (transport, hotels, cafes. etc.)
Funny thing as HotS was my first moba game and as it died I slowly just abandoned the genre because to me that meant the whole genre was dying. Now, as I see LoL still having players, I'm considering putting the energy into getting into it. Thanks for the vid, mate! Really interesting to think about the approaches regarding money from the game vs money from events and the different financial models that make or break the game.
escogiste mal tu MOBA al inicio muchacho
@@piedrablanca1942 haha to you maybe, my g, but I loved it so much! Played for several years. 🤍
just write /muteall at the beginning of every match and you are going to have a blast!
I first played LoL back in 2011. Back then, me and my friends were playing Dota 1 in computer cafes, but, Riot had this great offer that if we played their game, they would pay for our pc fees for the day. That marketing strat made me and my friends long time league supporters. Until now, i still play league from time to time and watch worlds highlights
what a well made and well structured video
I was thinking this same thing. Clear ideas.
Idk, if you are making some kind of "history of" video how can you get your facts wrong? Coudn't bother watching this video more than 2 mins. Because MOBA "identity" was formed in Aeon of strife. Starcraft 1 map. Not Dota. The guy who "created" dota in warcraft 3 literally said himself that he just "adapted" AoS from starcraft to WC3 engine and editor.
As much as it's "hated" it's always being worked and improved, actual feels like it's well maintained
🤣
Yea especially the client. Its the same since 2009, just a new flashy ui was added. Thats why scripters have it pretty easy. This guy has no clue what he is talking about.
@@ezmode946 I mean shit on league as much as you want but the updates are frequent
@@xXEGPXx definitely needs it
@@xXEGPXx yes updates are frequent, that's not necessarily a good thing. Hey a new update that tweaks a bunch of stuff that I don't want to care about and releases a bunch of new skins or a new champ, when there is already too many.
Riot games with the layoffs “Fine I’ll do it myself”
The absolute one thing I love about LoL community content is that for every champion no matter how unpopular, there is a youtuber/streamer out there who one tricks them and they even create interactive guides making a champion easier to learn and master. In Dota 2 I'm lucky if I find a hero compilation of a pro player using a hero, and some hero don't even get much recognition at all.
What makes it addictive for me is that every champion is like their own mini game that you try to master while playing against other people doing the same. As long as new champions come out or they keep refreshing old ones, this game will be eternal.
I thought it was just me but I feel the same exact same way in overwatch.
Dash, shield, farming ability and an ulti that may or may not actually be unique for once. Not much minigame to be had.
@@clemenscohn7371Jhin, Nasus, Cassiopeia, or Yorick don't have a dash+shield+ faming ability. And there are so many others like that;therefore, yes, it's a mini game
@@clemenscohn7371Thats a very narrow approach, While the guidelines of Mobility+Sustain exist in nearly all champs, its barely enough to explain champs, some champs have shit clear but high bursts, some have great clear and zoning but lack reach or engage, Thats put very very simply.
the only game i still play after all these years being a “gamer,” 🤓 i feel like im always learning and improving. it’s actually a challenging game to master unlike other competitive games ive played . dont think anything really compares. it’s in a league of its own. and no pun intended.
You will always find something to enjoy in League universe. I stopped playing league but I play LoR or TFT sometimes. Also me and my friends tune in to the Worlds every year no matter what we are doing. They keep giving us something to talk about. So it's kinda hard to escape when we enjoy being in the universe.
The International is a bigger anual event than Worlds, at least regarding prize pool
League got me hooked with those sketchy banner ads on all my flash game websites. Today, I would never click one of those sketchy ads but back then times were different.
If only other big games could do this. I want to be hyped about more franchises.
Mario & Pokemon!
@@Seroxm13 Pokemon? The game that demands 70$ each year for shit copy paste content? Come on. Pokemon is a hobby for the wealthy. League of Legends is for everyone.
@@junba1810 what? Pokemon has soooo many different games. Not all are the same smh. I love both, LoL and Pokemon, but Pokemon has way more diversity in games.
@@Seroxm13 Pokemon has so many different games that all cost 70$.
@@junba1810 "League of Legends is for everyone." No it's not lol. Not everyone wants to play a PvP game.
I want to say this is a very informative video and thank you for making it aspiring video game creators will learn from this as time goes on keep it up!
6:30 Icefrog is NOT the OG creator of Dota, he picked it up after Eul and Guinsoo.
Once you play dress up dolls, you never leave dress up dolls. They even have lore now compared to the beginning
A game that is both easy to play and incredibly hard at its highest level. Despite its millions of ups and down, you get updates each week and events each year. Anyone who tried going to another game know how rare that is. Apart from all of that, they have shaped the competitive scene of games. Everything is grand with worlds, there is cool new technology, live performances, top tier casting and the players are treated like gods. With so much investment in the player's experience, its hard to give up a game that makes you feel so seen at times.
I never really give a thoughts about it but I can really use some of RIOT's business strategy in many areas. It's seriously amazing just how much those ideas can be use in any types of business.
Game wouldn't be so bad if the developers and champ balancers weren't on absolute crack
As a business major, I find it interesting how "think out of the box" actually works for even the most unbelievable fields. As long as you have the right vision, things will go the right way.
League of legends is a universe and a brand not just for videogames but in the culture of entertainment. This is the reason why it will never die. Especially with arcane s2 and the riot mmo. Can't forget LOR which is getting better and better and of course tft.
They appeal to a wide audience while having a game which, whether intended or not, is very addicting: You have the people who wanna watch the competitive scene The casual playerbase Those who only play ranked Those who really like the lore and worldbuilding Those who played because their favorite streamer does or did Those who play cause they saw Arcane (yes that's a massive category of people by itself) and a few others Most of these groups barely overlap with each other
rip, old lore
Will soon add the people who play the fighting game
@@johnpreston230 im a huge fighting game fan and a league player ever since it released so i was so hype and happy when i found out about project l.
@@johnpreston230 Will also add the MMORPG folks if Riot ever releases that project
but still end up in the same situation no matter how u discovered the game. dark saggy black circles at age 16, greasy hair, smelling like a fucking dumpster and not to mention the p addiction from all the sexualized characters.
You know what else will never die? Legends. Iykyk
this is amazing. been playing since 2012 and studied game design lmao, no clue how i never knew this or even looked it up.
the load times are still ass. takes hours to just find matchmaking (jk i'm actually shit elo)
yo this video blew my mind. i feel like i've been living on mindless autopilot for the past 15 years.
Been a player for 8 years now and even though I've had my burnt out season with this game and don't play it as much as I used too, I do still keep tracked of what's going on. Whether if it's a new champion, items, maps, music videos and Worlds, League of Legends still manages to pull me in from time to time. The feeling of entering a match still gets me excited and this is the only game that really brings out the competitor in me, winning feels amazing but losing hurts like hell, It's really hard to just let go of League.
that's called an addiction
League took my life
I played religiously back in hs/uni and even when I stopped I always find myself coming back. The game is really fun at its core.