League of Legends

League of Legends  ( LoL ), commonly referred to as  League , is a 2009  multiplayer online battle arena  video game developed and published by  Riot Games . Inspired by  Defense of the Ancients , a  custom map  for  Warcraft III , Riot's founders sought to develop a stand-alone game in the same genre. Since its release in October 2009,  League  has been  free-to-play  and is monetized through  purchasable  character customization. The game is available for  Microsoft Windows  and  macOS . In the game, two teams of five players battle in  player-versus-player  combat, each team occupying and defending their half of the map. Each of the ten players controls a character, known as a "champion", with unique abilities and differing styles of play. During a match, champions become more powerful by collecting  experience points , earning gold, and purchasing  items  to defeat the opposing team. In  League 's main mode, Summoner's Rift, a team wins by pushing through to the enemy base and destroying their "Nexus", a large structure located within. League of Legends  has received generally positive reviews; critics highlighted its accessibility, character designs, and production value. The game's long lifespan has resulted in a critical reappraisal, with reviews trending positively; the negative and abusive in-game behavior of its players, criticized since early in the game's lifetime, persists despite Riot's attempts to fix the problem. In 2019,  League  regularly peaked at eight million concurrent players, and its popularity has led to tie-ins such as music videos, comic books, short stories, and an animated series,  Arcane . Its success has also spawned several  spin-off  video games, including a  mobile version , a  digital collectible card game  and a  turn-based role-playing game , among  others . A  massively multiplayer online role-playing game  based on the property is in development. Regularly cited as the world's largest  esport , the game has an international  competitive scene  consisting of multiple regional leagues. They culminate in the annual  League of Legends  World Championship . The  2019 event  registered over 100 million unique viewers, peaking at a concurrent viewership of 44 million during the  finals . Domestic and international events have been broadcast on  livestreaming  websites such as  Twitch ,  YouTube ,  Bilibili , and on  cable television  sports channel  ESPN .