Over the last couple of years, League of Legends (LoL) has become the most dominant and most watched out of all esports games for its simple gameplay that anyone can pick up.
The game works like this: Five versus five where the two teams pick heroes or “champions” as they are referred to, and play each other in an arena. The two teams fight for takedowns to reach their ultimate goal of taking down your opponent and destroying their headquarters or “Nexus” (leagueoflegends.com)
What makes League of Legends so enjoyable to watch is the fact how people who don’t play can understand the objective of the game. Pure gameplay of LoL is very simple and would get boring very easily, but one thing that helps it in the world’s view is the comments from each team. Players share their stories which let people know that they aren’t just gamers, but real people who play this game professionally and earn a good salary to provide for themselves.
Now League of Legends has been gaining more interest in colleges due to the fact that some universities in the United States and the rest of the world have set up teams that end up trying out for the professional scene. These teams compete with one another and it shows how versatile this game can be, from children who are at least 6 years old to adults. Anyone can play this game and the wide spectrum of ages allows for even a busy college student to play and have fun.
San Diego Mesa College students have also started playing the game. Student Iroh Rodriguez said “I play League for the fact that the game takes a good amount of time to complete and it’s a grind to win and not a walk in the park, as well as the game is playable at any time and it fits my schedule.”
“Each game takes twenty to forty-five minutes; if I have somewhere to be I play one game and the time goes by like that,” added Rodriguez. When asked what made him so interested in the game, Rodriguez responded, “I see the game so much on my feed and it made me wonder what all the hype is about. I started playing myself, and I understood. I have never got a more satisfying feeling than coming back from a loss taking it all for the win.”
According to Business Insider, the League of Legends World Championship brought in more than 100 million viewers, including a peak of 44 million concurrent viewers, during the competition’s final round on November 10, 2019.