League of Legends AND THE Esports industry

A new sport has been on the rise since the start of the 21st century. It is slowly becoming more recognized and respected globally. That sport is eSports.

Many sports fans and commentators are debating on whether they should recognize eSports as a professional sport. This debate was abruptly put to an end when the U.S. government issued visas for players from other countries to participate in League of Legends tournaments in the United States.

This legitimized professional League of Legend players as athletes.

While there are variety games that have many tournaments, there has been one game that stands at the top. This game is the current face of professional eSports: League of Legends.

In 2009, a mod for the popular game DoTA or Defense of the Ancients (which was itself also a mod for the popular game, Warcraft 3) was released as its own standalone title, by a new game developing company called Riot Games. This turned into their debut game, League of Legends: Clash Of Fates. For a complete timeline, check out this video.

It has been 10 since its release, and while the subtitle “Class of Fates” has been discarded and forgotten by the developers and community, League of Legends itself doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, anytime soon. In 2011, Riot Games announced they had over 32.5 million players, with a player base spanning over multiple countries. Last year, 81 million people played League of Legends. The real question is, how many people watch professional players play League of Legends on the big screen?

Every year, there are countless tournaments for a multitude of games held by the developers and respective companies. However, the most ambitious and anticipated eSports tournament of the year is the League of Legends World Championship series.

The season one tournament took in 1.6 million viewers in total with a prize pool of $50,000 dollars, and that was in 2011. In November 2018, The League of Legends World Championship had over 200 million total viewers, with a grand prize pool of over two million dollars! An impressive 20 million viewer increase from the previous year, making the World Championship the most watched eSport tournament of the year, more than last year’s NBA and World Series viewership combined.

But what is it exactly that makes professional League of Legends games so enticing to watch? Many would say the viewership numbers are, mostly, contributed by the game's large player base and by those who enjoy the game. However, the hype and enjoyment of a League of Legends professional match are not only attributed by how enjoyable the game is to play and watch, but also by the determination and hard work of the professional players, as well as the amount of effort put in by the Riot staff.

The time and dedication professional players put into practicing their in-game skills are exhausting. Your skill and ability to perform well in League are on par with the amount of time you spend playing the game. This demanding regimen is reflected by the most well known of League’s professional players and teams.

The greatest League of Legends player, Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, claims he practices 12-15 hours a day. In 2015, the professional Team Liquid also adopted this intense practice regimen with its players practicing together for 8 hours each day and then continuing separately for the rest of the day. “Ruiz's two Korean teammates, Chae 'Piglet' Gwan-jin and Kim 'Fenix' Jae-hun, are notorious for pushing the physical boundaries for how much a person can practice. They often sleep only four hours a night and practice between 12 and 14 hours per day"(Harrison).

Not only are these players hardworking but they have faced multiple hardships to get to where they are today. In 2011, at 18 years old, Yiliang “Peter” Peng (AKA Doublelift) announced to his parents he would pursue a career as a professional gamer. Shortly after this announcement, they kicked him out of the house. His future seemed uncertain and bleak but because of his vehement passion and determination for his dream he is now one of the most famous and prestigious professional League of Legends players in history. His story is even more awe-inspiring when discovering that Doublelift competed for and held the NA LCS trophy, a week after his brother had murdered his mother in 2017.

The community hails the players as gods; smiting their enemies, rising against impossible odds, carving their paths, and even falling from their thrones in the heavens above as a new star rises to claim it. The stories, struggles, and passion of the players drive a narrative about the games they play, as if they were legends in the making themselves.

Riot Games goes above and beyond expectations when making their tournaments, especially World, look appealing and entertaining. As League’s popularity grew and eSports became more recognized, Riot had more opportunities to make their professional tournaments unique and unforgettable experiences.

In the last 5 years Riot Games have collaborated with Grammy award winning musical artists such as Imagine Dragons and Zedd, along with other famous musical composers such as the Glitch Mob, The Word Alive, and South Korean pop star, J. La to compose a singular theme song the World Championship.

Riot's choice in location for venue and special effects are also pivotal in creating that desired feeling when one watches a LoL match. For example, In the 2017 Worlds Championship, Riot games were able to have an augmented reality Elder Dragon, an epic monster in the game, fly around the Beijing National Stadium. This experience shattered the barrier between the game and the real world.

Shoutcastors are individuals whose main job is to narrate the events and plays occurring during a professional match. They are also partly responsible for creating the level of intensity and hype for the game by using play-by-play analysis, relevant game discussion, and player/team background information to create the feeling of a legendary story unfolding in front of the audience. League of Legends tournaments leave an impression that should serve as a modern model of how all large eSports events should work.

League of Legends has become such an infamous name in the sports world that their reach knows no bounds, several teams are owned and invested in by professional sports teams and sports celebrities. Some of these teams and celebrities include: The Golden State Warriors, Three-time NBA champion Rick Fox, The Cleveland Cavaliers, The Houston Rockets, and The New York Yankees. Colleges have also started giving eSports athletic recognition with multiple universities across the U.S. housing League of Legends collegiate teams. Colleges with collegiate League of Legends teams include: University of California Irvine, University of Maryland, University of Columbia, Michigan State University and many more if you are a skilled player. They have even done rankings.

To this day League of Legends’ influence and reach among the sports community continues to expand regardless of criticism. There was even small talk between the International eSports Federation and International Olympic Committee in 2016 that rumored of the creation of an eSport, Olympic sport. If this was to be implemented League of Legends would almost certainly be picked.

League of Legends was certainly not the first major eSports video game and nor will it be the last, but it has paved the way for the future of eSports. Regardless of what your position is on the topic of eSports, it’s the new professional sport of the century and it’s here to stay.