27 million people play League of Legends each day

By Ryan Fleming Published January 27, 2014

27 million people play league legends day winter championship of — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Each day, Riot Games’ League of Legends has an average of more than 27 million people log in and play, according to a statement given to the Wall Street Journal. That number has more than doubled since October 2012, when the game touted 12 million users per day. Riot also confirmed that it has seen spikes of 7.5 million users playing at the same time.

League of Legends is a free-to-play multiplayer online battle arena game (MOBA) whose income is driven by microtransactions. In 2013, the game recorded the second most revenue for an online game, with $624 million. Although League of Legends was a distant second behind CrossFire’s $957 million, Riot’s game was nearly $200 million ahead of the third biggest game, Dungeon Fighter Online.

Recommended Videos

League of Legends is also one of the most popular eSports games, and it frequently dominates online tournaments in terms of viewership. In October 2013, the League of Legends Season 3 World Championship attracted 32 million people over the course of the event, with 8.5 million watching concurrently at peak times. By comparison, 2012’s Season 2 Championship attracted a total of 8.2 million, with 1.1 million watching at the same time during peak hours.

Topics

PC Gaming

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Gaming

2XKO is the League of Legends fighting game’s title

Yasuo in 2XKO.

Riot Games announced the title of its free-to-play League of Legends fighting game, which it had previously referred to as Project L: 2XKO.

Project L Is Now 2XKO

Gaming

Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story is a bittersweet eulogy for Riot Forge

A variant key art for Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story.

Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story is a new game about getting out of your comfort zone and connecting with others. In many ways, that's also the story of Riot Forge. The publishing label pushed its corporate parent Riot Games out of its AAA design instincts to expand the world of Runterra. There's only so much narrative you can weave into something like League of Legends, and all of Riot Forge’s games offered unique perspectives that enriched this world. I found fulfillment in that strategy too, as someone who enjoys the world of Runeterra, but didn't want to play League of Legends itself. It’s a treatment that few well-known franchises get outside comic book universes, Warhammer, and Star Wars.

Unfortunately, Bandle Tale is the last of its kind for now as Riot Forge has been shuttered as part of recent Riot Games layoffs. That’s a shame, not just for League of Legends, but the video game industry at large. If nothing else, Bandle Tale is worth checking out as a bold move from a major studio, which is something that's becoming increasingly rare.
A solid sendoff
Developer Lazy Bear Games’ Bandle Tale takes place in Bandle City, home to many of the cute, furry Yordle creatures that League of Legends players are likely familiar with. This gives us our first look into their society, which is fractured when a portal network is destroyed during a party toward the start of the game. After that, it’s up to the player, who had isolated themselves for over 100 years, to reunite the portal network and find their lost friends. Like most Riot Forge titles, Bandle Tale is narrative-focused and has more of a humorous edge than the label’s other games.

Gaming

League of Legends publisher Riot Games lays off over 500 employees, shutters Riot Forge

Key art highlighting Riot Forge's three League of Legends spinoffs in 2023.

League of Legends publisher Riot Games has cut 11% of its staff, resulting in 530 layoffs. The major company restructure will see the company's entire Riot Forge studio shut down and include cuts to the Legends of Runeterra development team.

Riot Games announced the move in two blog posts on its website. One details the scope of the layoffs and outlines how severance is being handled. The other goes into Riot's vision for its future, which will double down on established games like League of Legends and Valorant, as well as its upcoming fighting game Project L.