Esports has been growing for years and is becoming more professional. The best example is League of Legends, which set a viewer record in 2019 and held a World Championship in 2020 despite Corona. However, not every game manages such success. What makes LoL different?
This is the situation: Esports is now a huge market and continues to grow:
- According to Statista, about 223 million people enthusiastically watched esports in 2020, while another 272 million tuned in irregularly.
- The revenue around esports increased by 15.7% in 2020 to 1.1 billion dollars. The forecast is rising (via Newzoo). This is also due to the fact that more and more online games are hosting tournaments and attracting sponsors and advertisers.
The biggest games in terms of viewer numbers and prize money are LoL, DOTA 2, and Fortnite. However, they differ significantly in their style and the implementation of their tournaments.
While LoL has grown with esports and has become increasingly professional, Fortnite has particularly tried to force tournaments by offering high prize money. DOTA 2 also has prize pools that are significantly higher relative to viewer numbers and the structure of the tournaments compared to LoL.
But more money does not necessarily mean more success. Recently, criticism has emerged from pros in Fortnite who are concerned about esports. Therefore, we at MeinMMO are looking at how LoL manages esports and what it does differently than the competition.
LoL dominates in viewers and event character
What is the situation with LoL? League of Legends has a well-organized pro scene. There are clear leagues in various regions that take place in spring and summer. These leagues are held offline, so teams meet in person and play against each other (due to Corona, however, everything is currently being held online).
The best teams from each region are then sent to a World Championship in the fall. There, the strongest team in the world is determined.
The massive events are sponsored by well-known brands such as MasterCard, Bose, Mercedes, Red Bull, or KIA. With the luxury brand Louis Vuitton, skins and merchandise have even been created. The entire structure resembles professional sports, where sponsors also play an important role.
What do viewer numbers look like for LoL? In 2019, nearly 4 million people watched the semifinals of Worlds at the same time. The viewers from China and certain smaller platforms are still excluded. If you include them, the numbers are even larger:
- The 2020 final is said to have been watched by 45.95 million people at its peak (via Sportsvideo.org). For comparison: About 160 million people watched the Super Bowl in 2019 at its peak (via Statista).
- Overall, more than 1 billion hours of LoL were watched live during Worlds 2020. The replays were not counted.
But even the general league operations attract massive numbers of viewers. An average of 231,000 people watched the first LEC weekend from January 22nd to 24th. This was a new record for the European league.
LoL tournaments impress with their event character: Another distinctive feature of League of Legends is the event character of the tournaments.
The World Championship, except for 2020, has filled huge arenas and not only offered exciting matches but also a special feature every year.
In 2014, the band Imagine Dragons performed with their song Warriors. In 2018, Riot Games brought the virtual band K/DA to life on stage. The opening ceremonies of the LoL Worlds somewhat resemble the halftime shows that occur during the Super Bowl.
What is LoL doing for the next generation? In addition to the pro league, there are numerous amateur and youth leagues and tournaments. In Germany, for example, there is the Prime League, which is just below the LEC.
There, teams like Gamerlegion, Mousesports, and second teams from major organizations like Schalke 04 Prime and SK Gaming Prime compete. Players from these teams regularly make the jump to the pro scene.
In America, a new tournament was introduced to make the region more competitive. In the LCS Proving Grounds, amateur and academy teams face off to determine the best team outside of the LCS.
In addition to these established leagues, there are thousands of amateur tournaments and also the 5v5 ranking system, where teams can prove themselves.
LoL has “low” prize money at the World Championship
As prize money for the World Championship, there was with 2.5 million dollars last year the lowest amount since 2013. But for many players, this prize money is not necessarily what matters:
- In the LoL leagues, teams are committed to a minimum compensation for every registered player.
- Through advertising deals, players earn additional money.
- Most pros are active on Twitch/YouTube and have considerable viewer numbers due to their fame.
- Even in league operations, there are prize pools that are distributed during the season. The pros also earn a share from them.
Fortnite creates e-sports out of necessity, has high prize money
This is the situation with Fortnite: While in LoL mainly teams with big names and sponsors in the background take part, in the Fortnite Champion Series, there were also players who had no organization behind them:
- There is no classic league system like in LoL. Instead, one could qualify for solo and duo tournaments in regional online events.
- Over 40 million players are said to have participated in the qualifications (via NYTimes).
This ultimately led to young and unknown players winning while the supposed pros and streamers were left behind. From the 30 million dollar prize pool, 3 million went to the winner Kyle “Bugha” Giersdorf, who was 16 years old at the time.
How many watch Fortnite? The finale of the World Cup 2019 was watched by 2.33 million people at its peak (via ESports Charts), excluding viewers from China and smaller streaming services. However, the number of viewers from China is likely to be significantly lower as Fortnite is primarily successful in the West.
Looking at the tournament winners, only 6 Asian players were in the final 100. This is rather unusual for esports, which are often dominated by Chinese or Korean teams in international tournaments.
What is the problem with Fortnite? The entire tournament series seemed somewhat hastily put together because Fortnite is not a classic esports game:
- There is no balanced situation on the battlefield and too many variables that can lead to elimination.
- While in CS:GO, DOTA, and LoL, personal skill is essential, in Fortnite, it is wiser to keep out of everything to survive as long as possible.
- Additionally, illegal collusions are possible regarding who lands where and whether they do not attack each other. This is much easier to manage for individual players and harder to trace than in 5v5 matches in LoL or other games. Even collusions have been accused against the world champion.
Fortnite has also significantly reduced its prize money since then. While there were still 30 million dollars in 2019, only 3 million were played for in 2020. For 2021, no prize money was announced at all.
This is particularly difficult for Fortnite pros because they do not have structured leagues and income. Although some esports organizations provide youth development, it is not supported by Epic itself.
Dota 2 also attracts with large sums but gets fewer viewers
This is the situation in DOTA 2: There are also similarly large sums for tournaments as in Fortnite. Valve hosts “The International” every year. This is effectively the World Championship. One can qualify by participating in certain tournaments held throughout the year. These tournaments also take place offline.
The most striking aspect of “The International” is the prize pool. It started at 1.6 million in 2019 and was then driven up by community crowdfunding. Overall, the prize pool was 33.3 million.
How many watch Dota 2? The most-watched event in Dota 2 is The International 2019 with 1.97 million viewers at peak (via ESports Charts). Again, viewers from China and certain smaller platforms are excluded.
- Even though the prize pool is larger, only about half as many viewers watch the tournament.
- The event with the second most viewers, The International 2018, only had 1.21 million peak viewers and therefore lags behind some regional championships in LoL.
What is the problem with DOTA 2? Even though DOTA 2 has larger prize pools, significantly fewer viewers tune in in the end.
This is partly because it has a smaller player base than LoL. While LoL was one of the most popular PC games worldwide in 2019 with 8 million concurrent active players, Dota peaked at only 700,000 (via Steamcharts).
Additionally, DOTA 2 lacked traditional leagues for a long time, which resulted in viewers being able to watch regularly and on the same channels. The leagues were only introduced in 2021 but are somewhat smaller than those in LoL (via Liquipedia).
This is what makes LoL so successful
This is what makes LoL so successful: LoL manages to create the most professional impression despite the relatively small prize pools:
- The league system can become a routine for viewers. Thus, one can admire their favorite team every weekend, similar to how it is done in Bundesliga.
- Because Riot Games oversees the leagues, professional contracts and compensation are now being taken into consideration.
- There are leagues for youth development and official amateur tournaments.
- The final of the World Championship has an event character comparable to large sports events.
- One has the feeling that events improve year after year.
Other titles like CS:GO, FIFA, or Smite cannot compete, despite being actively involved in esports as well. The closest competitor to LoL is DOTA 2, which, however, lags slightly behind its big brother.
How is esports evolving in general? While the three games presented here dominate in the West, mobile games have been gaining popularity among the overall viewers in recent months.
After the world championships in 2019 and 2020 in LoL, the PUBG Mobile Championship currently occupies 3rd place in the ranking for the most simultaneous viewers (via ESports Charts).
Also, the shooter Free Fire, which is considered one of the biggest games in the world, makes it into the top 5 of the most-watched events and even ranks ahead of the Fortnite World Cup.
Even though these games are often scoffed at, the mobile market has a large target audience. Riot Games has recognized this, as they will soon host tournaments with their LoL-Mobile Wild Rift as well. A first foundation for this will be laid by the upcoming Patch 2.1 with the Spectator Mode.
