“Kite, peel, flash, and ignite” are common words in the world of League of Legends, a popular on-line game released in 2009 that has grown to become the most popular on-line video game in the world. The growth of this game is revealed in a New York Times article titled “Behind League of Legends, E-Sport’s Main Attraction.”
League of Legends 2013 World Finals
“‘Player experience is first’ said Joost van Dreunen.” For starters, League of Legends is a free to play game, charging players only for premiums that do not change game-play; League of Legends premiums only provide visuals and the game is ultimately requires skills. How does Riot persuade players to purchase these premiums? Simple: most of the game’s premiums can be purchased for an affordable price of under $10.00. Players that have invested thousands of hours will willingly spend some money to visually enhance game play. Up to date, League of Legends, has also hosted 4 World Championships, large scale events with millions of spectators. Riot has stated that these events are not meant to earn money and are only meant to popularize the game, much like an endorsement. Riot’s thinking has not failed as they have reaped $1 billion in revenues due to the vast amount of players that are willing to invest in the cheap premiums offered in the game. League of Legends has been constantly expanding as a successful free to play game, yet due to the large scaled nature of the game and the new ideas constantly brought into the game, Riot is on a long and successful road.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/10/technology/league-of-legends-graphic.html?_r=0 -Interesting video of player movements in League of Legends.