Teut Weidemann from Ubisoft has examined the business model of League of Legends and uncovered some weaknesses.
According to Teut Weidemann from Ubisoft’s Blue Byte, the business model of League of Legends has three weaknesses: League of Legends gives away too much for free, regularly introduces overpowered champions only to nerf them later, and has a conversion rate that is too low.
The conversion rate for client-based games typically ranges between 15% and 25%, while World of Tanks even reaches 30%. In League of Legends, however, only 3.75% of players spend money.
According to Weidemann, Riot openly admits to introducing heroes that are so strong that players must have them immediately, only to weaken them later. However, this apparently doesn’t bother LoL players. Weidemann believes that by nerfing, Riot damages the newly purchased “goods” of the players.
Riot can afford generosity, others may not
The reason why the business model of League of Legends works is the huge player base of the game. Weidemann warns other developers not to copy Riot’s supposed success model: “They can afford it; you maybe can’t.”
