Despite popular belief, Fortnite is not the most popular PC game. While Fortnite and Apex legends still have millions of players each month, League of Legends has consistently been the most popular PC game for years. In 2017, the game had about 68 million players each month, about five times as much as Fortnite. With recent additions to LoL, we can assume that this number will rise again. But why? Well, let’s take a look at the key aspects that ensure the MOBA’s popularity.
Teamfight Tactics
This new game type sets this MOBA apart. A MOBA is a multiplayer online battle arena. While League of Legends is this, in June of 2019, Riot Games introduced a new chess-like game to the mix. Teamfight Tactics uses League of Legends characters (champions) to battle in this automated dueling game. The game type is much more laid back than a MOBA and has brought in millions of new players in mere weeks.
No Pay to Win
You know what really turns a gamer off? When they have to pay ungodly amounts of money for gear that helps them perform better. Whoever has the richest daddy has the most wins? That’s not fair. When it comes to League, that isn’t the case. Riot Games ensures that you never have to spend a penny. But if you do decide to, it will do nothing to improve your skills or likelihood of winning. Anything that you purchase is purely cosmetic.
It’s FREE
While you can purchase in-game skins and such, the game itself is 100% free. When so many new games are breaking your budget, it’s nice to have the most popular PC game of the decade on your PC in nothing flat. Riot will never trick you into purchasing anything that isn’t solely to make yourself look cool.
Always Up to Date
Riot Games is sure to patch League of Legends every two weeks. This means that they do their best to keep champions balanced and work out any kinks without you having to update every single day. They also add a brand-new champion to the shop once very two to three months. Just a couple of weeks after they are released, you can even try them out for free before spending in-game currency to buy them.
The Recruiting Process
This works on both sides. On your side, League encourages teamwork and makes you really want to invite all of your friends to play with you. Each team consists of five players and playing with friends is much easier than playing with toxic random people. So, what does that mean for Riot? Of course, every friend you get to play is another player in their database. Making the game even more popular on paper.
Good-Sized Matches
Some games make you play for an entire hour, or even longer, for just one match. Most people don’t have time for that on a normal weekday. On the other hand, other games give you 5-10 minutes of playtime per match. This can leave you unfulfilled. League matches average out at 30-45 minutes a match. Most League players will tell you that this is the perfect length to fit in with everyday life.
Play Hard, Rank Up, Get Rich
Speaking of fulfillment, League of Legends has plenty of room for it. For one thing, there is quite a market for gamers who want to get serious. There are thousands of League players making a living doing nothing but posting videos on YouTube and Twitch. While this is a small margin of people that play League, it can give you hope if you wish to dedicate your career to it.
However, if you aren’t in it for the money, you can still get quite a bit of fulfillment out of simply playing the ranked version of the game. At the beginning of each season, you do a few placements matches that will tell you where you stand. Afterwards, you spend the rest of the season trying to reach a higher rank. Those who reach Gold, receive in-game content, while Challenger players (top 200) will receive something tangible, such as an exclusive backpack or jacket.
Customer Service
Riot Games customer service has to be one of the best in the business. Each ticket is handled in a timely manner and with such care that you will start to believe that this agent knows you personally. They will take as long as needed to solve your issue and always try to connect with you. On top of that, a little-known fact is that if you do any fan art at all, Riot will send you anywhere form 5-50RP for your effort.
Develop a Personality
One other thing that sets League of Legends apart is that the game has incredible personality. Unlike many other games, each character is someone that you can connect to, and each player’s playstyle is incredibly different. There are endless builds, giving you ultimate creativity.
No More DOTA
This is perhaps what gave League of Legends such an incredible launch. In 2009, League of Legends was released. In may seem kind of sleazy, but their marketing campaign promised everything that Dota lacked. At the time, Dota players were tiring of a few things. So Riot announced that their MOBA would put an end to “Disconnections, Obnoxious hackers, Totally imba matches, and Annoying leavers.” If you’ll notice, that’s what they say DOTA stands for. Harsh, it’s true. Now, whether or not they stood by those promises is irrelevant considering they are so much more successful than Dota.