League of Legends is the most popular MOBA game of all time, and considering the number of people who actively play the game, it’s no wonder that its revenue is usually reported in the billions.
When it comes to the world of online competitive gaming, few games can even aspire to match stride with something like League of Legends or Dota 2 in terms of sheer popularity and prominence. Both of these are MOBA games with a dedicated fanbase, and both are counted among the most avaricious when it comes to global championship games.
To wrap your head around just how popular League of Legends is, you have to understand that even Dota 2 — arguably one of the greatest games in history — can’t come even close to competing with it in terms of player numbers. At the time of writing this, Dota 2 had 600,000 online players on Steam, with an all-time high of 1,291,000+ players. League of Legends, meanwhile, is claimed to have anywhere between 2 to 3 million players online at any given time, with a peak that can easily go above a dozen million.
But let’s take it from the top: What is League of Legends, and do we know the actual player count?
What is League of Legends?
League of Legends is a MOBA game modeled after 2003’s popular Defense of the Ancients mod. MOBA is an acronym of “multiplayer online battle arena,” and basically defines a game taking place between two teams in a predesignated battleground consisting of three lanes. Each team has 5 players, with each player picking a hero (or a Champion, in League of Legends’ case) and using their particular abilities to compete against the other team. The main goal is the destruction of the other team’s main building, which promptly wins the match.
While League of Legends basically has the same principles as DotA and Dota 2, it has been designed in a way to cater to a broader audiences. The map is much less intricate, the items aren’t confusing, and the heroes are easy enough to wrap your head around. In short, League of Legends is a more accessible version of the traditional MOBA game with a none too steep learning curve, and that alone has contributed to its huge popularity over the years.
The League of Legends player count, explained
According to data aggregated from Priori Data, PlayerCounter, and LeagueFeed, the popular Riot game currently has an active user base ranging between 130 to 150 million active players. They also claim that around 2.5 million people are playing the game live, though that number could fluctuate quite wildly during different hours of every day.
A lot of fans have commented on League of Legends’ waning popularity in recent years, but if the numbers are anything to go by, Riot’s game still has a bit of fight left in it. In fact, League is so popular that its spinoff animated series, Arcane, has turned into a sensation in and of itself. I might occasionally drop League of Legends, but I will never stop eagerly anticipating the next season of Arcane.