league of legends primer #1 - what is league of legends?

League of LegendsWorld Championships 2016 Primer

Part 1: What is League of Legends?

Prepared by: Luc Ryu

This Primer is meant for individuals who are interested in learning about the basics of

League of Legends – both as a game, and as a spectacle.

The 2016 World Championships are just around the corner (October 29, 2016), and

awareness of the game is at an annual high. With that, comes a large influx of individuals

who are interested in watching, but have no idea what the game is, how its basic gameplay

functions, or even how to properly watch the game.

This Primer will be comprised of multiple sections, each designed to explain a unique

component of League of Legends – be it its history and growth, its basic gameplay, or the

head-to-head matchup at the 2016 World Championships.

Altogether, the goal of this Primer is to help beginners learn the basics of League of

Legends, such that they can enjoy the experience of watching the 2016 World

Championships.

The biggest barrier to entry for any video game is the steep learning curve involved in

learning the fundamentals. It is my hope that this Primer will help to break down those

barriers, and help introduce the fascinating world of competitive League of Legends to new

viewers.

About This Primer

What is League of Legends?

Well, yes.

It is just a video game, I guess.

But maybe it’ll surprise you to

know just how big and influential a

video game can get.

A “MOBA” is any game where a player controls a character (“Champion”), and the objective

is to destroy the opposing team’s main structure (“Nexus”) with the assistance of periodically

spawned computer-controlled units (“Minions”).

What is League of Legends?

LoL has approximately 100M monthly active users (“MAU”) [1]

League of Legends (“LoL”), is a video game released on October 27, 2009 by Riot Games

LoL is categorized within the multiplayer online battle arena (“MOBA”) genre of video games

[1] http://www.riftherald.com/2016/9/13/12865314/monthly-lol-players-2016-active-worldwide

313M 409M150M

Exhibit 1: MAU Comparison

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

140.0

10/27/2009 7/26/2011 11/1/2011 10/1/2012 1/28/2014 9/13/2016 12/31/2017

Mil

lio

ns o

f M

on

thly

Ac

tive

Use

rs

Riot Games and LoL Through Time

Exhibit 2: Riot Games Timeline

Growth to end of 2017

approximately 130M MAU

based on projected figures.

You may have heard of

Tencent! They recently

purchased the Clash of

Clans series, and are the

developers of instant

messaging application

WeChat.

Tencent Holdings acquires

93.0% in Riot Games for

approximately $400M.

Tencent Holdings

purchases the remaining

7.0% in Riot Games.

5Million concurrent

players

1Million concurrent

players

8Million concurrent

players

World Championships Through Time

Location: Jönköping, Sweden

Prize Pool: USD $99,500

Peak CCV1: 210,000+

2011 was the inaugural year

for the World Championships,

and the only year a Western

team has ever won!

1st

2nd 3rd

1 CCV: Concurrent viewers – unique viewers watching simultaneously at any point during the broadcast of the final series.

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Location: Los Angeles, USA

Prize Pool: USD $2,000,000

Peak CCV1: 1,100,000+


1st

2nd


3rd /4th

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016



Peak CCV1: 8,500,000+


1st

2nd


3rd /4th

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

With 32,000,000+ views,

the 2013 World

Championships were

more watched than the

2013 NBA Finals.



Location: Busan, South Korea


Peak CCV1: 11,200,000+

1st

2nd 3 /4thrd

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016



Location: Berlin, Germany


Peak CCV1: 14,000,000+

1st

2nd 3 /4thrd

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016





Peak CCV1: ???

1st

2nd 3 /4thrd

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

? ?

2011 World Championships

CCV: 800,000


CCV: 14,00,000


CCV: ???

http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/101916/cbs-commissions-candy-crush-game-show-atvi-

cbs-lgf.aspx

http://www.riftherald.com/2016/9/13/12865314/monthly-lol-players-2016-active-worldwide

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/pinterest-monthly-users-2016-150-million/176314/

http://www.riotgames.com/articles/20140910/508/115-million-playing-lol-each-month

http://forums.euw.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=337971

http://www.riotgames.com/articles/20121015/138/league-legends-growth-spells-bad-news-teemo

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?toURL=http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/01/27/riots-

league-of-legends-reveals-astonishing-27-million-daily-players-67-million-

monthly/&refURL=&referrer=#199b15e63511

http://venturebeat.com/2008/07/10/riot-games-raises-round-for-quick-hit-3-d-online-games/

http://www.tencent.com/en-us/content/ir/news/2011/attachments/20110519b.pdf

http://www.wsj.com/articles/tencent-acquires-full-control-of-u-s-based-riot-games-1450342769

Sources Used

League of LegendsWorld Championships 2016 Primer

Part 1: What is League of Legends?

Prepared by: Luc Ryu

league of legends primer #1 - what is league of legends?

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