With the undeniable rise of one of Riot Games’ most recent games, VALORANT, some MOBA enjoyers started to ask whether LoL can keep its popularity and even reach higher audiences in the future. Here is the question that the fans have been asking each other, is League of Legends dying?
There are many different aspects that keep a video game alive. However, the most important point to keeping a game at the highest level is of course managing its popularity among all the other games. You could say that League of Legends is dying in your own perspective but the numbers say the opposite. We will be looking deeply at the most recent stats of League of Legends tournaments and all the other new modes, such as League of Legends Clash.
Is League of Legends dying?
Riot Games’ latest decisions were targeting an even wider audience as League of Legends was the only game they had in their hands. However, they now have plenty of games which led them to reach a bigger audience but on the other hand, these new games stole some of LoL’s community. Many games have had the same fate just like PUBG Mobile but this doesn’t mean that those games have died. To answer the question above, let’s have a deeper look at the ecosystem’s current situation by examining both the esports scene and also the gaming area where the game keeps its popularity at the highest level.
League of Legends was released in 2009 by Riot Games. At first, they had a handful of testers and some other players who were trying to get used to the game. After some time, the game got so popular that some of the esports players were known by many people in their own countries, including Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok for instance. Most of the international League of Legends tournaments hosted great communities which made the best players famous not only regionally but also internationally. These international tournaments also help different people from different cultures to unite. Besides, League of Legends betting is also an important factor in the game’s popularity.
According to ActivePlayer, League of Legends holds a huge community in its hands and it reached its peak with over 153 million players in April 2025, with a peak daily player base of around 25 million recorded in December 2025. This was likely due to the return of LoL Arena, the 2v2v2v2 game mode.
While the “active player count” changes monthly, it looks like Riot Games has managed to keep the player pool at a consistent level throughout 2025, averaging over 140 million for most periods during the year.
League of Legends Playerbase
If you look at the chart below, you will see there were many jumps between months and years but the player base has been more or less consistent throughout the year. Even when Riot Games loses some of its player base, an even bigger wave comes to join the game, resulting more or less in small losses of player base.
Courtesy of Activeplayer
Considering that the game is only available on PC, the numbers are significant and despite some ups and downs, it looks like it’s going to be consistent in 2025, especially if the new season changes are well received by the community.
League of Legends Tournaments
When it comes to League of Legends esports, this is probably the best year it ever had in terms of presence and exposure. Thanks to the new format changes for international tournaments, as well as T1’s return to the top of the world, the League of Legends World Championship recorded its highest peak viewership ever, hitting over 6.4 million concurrent viewers, according to stat site Esports Charts. Average viewership also has greatly increased from 2025, breaking the 1.25 million barrier.
Even the 2025 Mid-Season Invitational in London delivered better numbers than the previous editions, proving that esports is still growing and becoming more and more mainstream. With Worlds 2025 already confirmed in London this year, it will be up to European fans to further raise the bar for LoL esports.
How does Riot Games keep its player base?
The answer to this question is very simple: by satisfying the players. How, though, does the company manage to satisfy the majority of the player base in a time where gamers are less and less patient with publishers? Riot Games employees are known for being active on social media and interacting with different people mainly on Twitter. Even though it doesn’t go as far as saying that they do whatever fans want, it is still important to hear out to the community for changes in the game. This year, the most notable addition was LoL Arena: the game mode was loved by the player base, giving them a great alternative to the usual 5v5 matches between Summoner’s Rift and ARAM. Even though it’s still not a permanent game mode, Arena is bound to attract a lot of veterans and new players every time it’s available.
Long story short, the answer to “Is League of Legends dying?” is; no, it is not dying. Moreover, it keeps on growing in terms of sponsors for the esports scene and more players for the gaming side. Even though the active gamers count changes monthly, the trend is more or less consistent, meaning that people enjoy the game. It would not be right to say that League of Legends is dying, even if growth is not perfectly consistent.
