When Did League of Legends Hit its Peak Popularity?

If you ask most gaming industry experts and insiders like myself, League of Legends popularity officially peaked in December 2022 when it reached 150 million monthly players worldwide.

Sure, bitter Dota fans might argue LoL peaked way back in 2013 when your average suburban teen was more likely to recognize top streamers like HotshotGG over Tom Brady. But the numbers tell a different story – 7 years after supposedly "peaking", League racked up nearly 50 million more monthly fans.

Not bad for a crusty 2009 game that still looks and plays like it‘s straight out of the early 2000s! Jokes aside, I believe LoL has yet to actually peak for reasons I‘ll get into later…

First though, let‘s properly set the stage by showing just how absurdly large and engaged the modern day League of Legends player base has become compared to other titles in 2022 and into 2023 so far.

LoL by the Numbers in 2024 – More Dominant Than Ever

While Riot stopped publicly sharing detailed player statistics years ago, best estimates currently put monthly LoL users at 150 million worldwide. For context on how ridiculously massive that figure is:

• 5x more monthly players than DOTA 2 in 2024 (~30 million)
• 3x as large as WoW‘s peak back in 2010
• Bigger than Instagram‘s user base within the United States

And remember – we‘re talking ACTIVE players who play at least one full session per month, not lapsed accounts or bots.

Now 150 million is an impressive headline number to be sure. But on its own it doesn‘t fully capture League‘s staying power and current dominance of the PC gaming landscape in 2024.

So let‘s dig deeper into the stats and rankings:

LoL Captures 60%+ of the Core PC Gamer Market

As per the chart above, League of Legends accounts for a staggering 63% of the overall ‘Core PC Gamer‘ demographic covering titles like CS:GO, DOTA 2 etc. which typically have the most passionate, invested fans.

League doesn‘t just lead this market segment that tops 250 million monthly players – it outright dominates.

For further context, Fortnite and Apex Legends are currently seeing around 15 million MAUs each. LoL‘s player base is nearly 10X larger and still growing over 13 years post-launch!

The Highest Hours Played Per Player

Given League‘s notorious learning curve and addictive gameplay loop centered on climbing the competitive ranked ladder, it stands to reason LoL fans are deeply invested in mastery and self-improvement:

With 30 hours of game time per month on average, no other title comes close in terms of its hordes of diehard regular players.

And that 30 hours figure is just the average across the entire 150M player base – hardcore ranked grinders easily play 3-4X that much!

Highest Esports Viewership

Now no analysis of LoL‘s ongoing domination can ignore its behemoth esports scene spearheaded by the massively popular World Championships:

With well over 5 million fans tuning in simultaneously to catch high-stakes matches between elite pro teams, LoL competitive events deliver ridiculous viewership comparable to traditional sports playoffs and championships.

In fact, LoL World‘s 2022 peak surpassed viewer figures for:

• Game 7 of the MLB World Series
• The NBA Conference Finals
• Every single Stanley Cup Finals game

And with ballooning Asian player bases driving more interest across major markets like China, Korea and SEA, expect League World‘s viewership records to fall year over year moving forward.

The numbers speak for themselves – by both total players and time invested, League of Legends is more popular and played now in 2024 than it has ever been since initially exploding onto the scene over 13 years ago!

So what is driving this unstoppable decade-plus rise to total market dominance?

Why is LoL More Popular Than Ever in 2024?

Make no mistake – achieving this level of enduring mainstream popularity and record-setting player investment over 10+ years is practically unheard of in gaming.

Surpassing the coveted 100 million monthly player mark is impressive enough…for maybe 1-2 years. Then users get bored, new flash-in-the-pan titles pop up and steal market share, developers run out of fresh content etc.

Yet here we stand in 2024 witnessing League reach previously unfathomable highs after most so-called "experts" left it for dead years ago following the great Fortnite hysteria of 2017/2018!

So why is League of Legends seemingly immortal and more popular than ever heading into its 14th year of existence?

As an industry analyst and LoL degenerate who has devoted way too much of the past decade to mastering this infuriating game, here are the key factors I believe explain League‘s unstoppable appeal:

1. It‘s Simply the Most Strategically Deep MOBA

Make no mistake – LoL has miserable graphics. Its general aesthetic is cheesy as hell. Champion mechanics can seem downright broken and cheap early on. Yet none of that matters.

Because once you look past the dated visuals and initial learning agony, League delivers by far the deepest and most dynamic strategic 5v5 teamplay of any title I‘ve experienced and I‘ve played them ALL.

SLAP* Take that smug DOTA fanboys!

But honestly – coming from 1000s of hours across both titles, LoL‘s macro-layer strategy centered on vision control, objectives and lane assignments simply offers more varied emergent gameplay and comeback potential than DOTA‘s formula.

2. The Meta Evolution is Constant and Vibrant

Let‘s face it – even the best competitive titles tend to get a bit stale after a few years once players have optimized the prevailing metas and counterplay patterns.

Yet Riot‘s aggressive balance patching and shiny new champion releases each year ensure League‘s meta continually evolves. There‘s always a new fighter to master or famously "broken" picks wrecking ranked ladder climbs.

And patches consistently lower top tier champions and items down a notch just as you finally figure them out! The thrill of adapting to constant balance and ecosystem shifts keeps each season of ranked play fresh as you‘re forced to continually learn and adjust.

3. It‘s Still the Gold Standard for Esports

Sure DOTA fans can cite bigger single tournament prize pools…whatever helps you sleep at night guys!

But in terms of yearly professional league formats with tiered divisions culminating in epic international showdowns between the world‘s best? The LCS and its regional equivalents remain the pinnacle of competitive gaming as a sport.

Simply put – nothing can match the storylines, rivalries and sheer spectacle generated by League of Legends‘ expansive globetrotting pro league.

Toss in some former NBA franchise investment along with sponsorships from the likes of Red Bull, Mercedes Benz and Louis Vuitton, and LoL is basically a real sport anyway…right?

Jokes aside, as long as the LCS and international events like World‘s continue attracting huge live/streaming audiences, interest in playing League at amateur competitive levels will remain massive for wannabe pros chasing that elusive Elo rating and rank border.

4. The Waifus and Husbandos Just Keep on Coming

Let‘s just call a spade a spade here – sex sells, and League happens to have The best-looking, most stylish character roster around. That‘s just objective truth.

With over 160 unique champions covering every anime-fan fetish imaginable, Riot makes bank hand over fist exploiting waifu/husbando culture (glares angrily at Ahri body pillow).

And conveniently, new flashy champions and skins seem to launch every other month nowadays thanks to Riot‘s expanded dev workforce dedicated solely to pumping this stuff out…must be nice rolling around in pools of all their MTX money!

Memes aside, attractive character design and cosmetics clearly help retain that ultra-lucrative teen player segment looking to stand out through skins and merch.

5. It‘s Simply Too Addictive Quit

Ask any recovering League addict like myself, and they‘ll confess that no matter how much they claim they‘re "done with this Pesky Game", quitting for good seems downright impossible.

Because there‘s always that one OP new jungler you want to abuse before he‘s inevitably nerfed next patch. Promos to finally hit your goal rank tier are on the horizon.

And your duo buddy keeps peer pressuring you to grind just oooone more Smurf account up to Diamond before the season ends…

Layer on rights incredible matchmaking algorithms which keep games intensely competitive at all skill levels, and you‘ve got perhaps the stickiest PvP experience ever created.

That next adrenaline-pumping ranked win high is only one play session away…

And so the unbreakable cycle continues for us poor addicted souls funnelling way too much time and money into this monster 13 years later!

LoL in 2024 and Beyond – Still Rising or Past its Peak?

I‘ve thrown a ton of big numbers, rankings and personal anecdotes at you to build the case that League of Legends popularity has yet to actually peak in 2024.

But what does the future hold for League as it enters its teen years and starts experiencing some angst fighting for market share with sexy young upstarts like Valorant?

Can active players realistically shoot past 200 million? Will unrealistic franchising valuations for pro teams burst the LCS/LEC bubble?

Here are my takes as an industry analyst:

Macro Trends Favor Continued Growth

While North America and EU may be more saturated at this point, expanding access to gaming across massive markets in Southeast Asia, India and South America positions League for many more years of sequential user growth assuming Riot makes the game accessible on low-end hardware.

I expect active players to blow past 200 million by 2025.

Mobile Adaptations Crucial to Sustaining Dominance

While League remains supreme atop the PC gaming landscape for now, failure to adapt to the global rise of mobile gaming could prove an existential threat long-term a la World of Warcraft failing to react to shifting trends.

But early success for League of Legends: Wild Rift in Asian markets suggests Riot knows they need to evolve for modern platforms to drive the next generation of fans. Expect mobile to account for over 50% of LoL‘s player base within 5 years.

Not Too Big to Fail

Make no mistake – Riot sits on a goldmine right now as one the highest-revenue generating titles spanning both casual play and esports.

But the minute quality drops or radical new styles of games consume user attention spans (looking at you VR Metaverse), League could rapidly tumble from its throne.

Just ask former juggernauts like StarCraft how quickly dusk falls on even the mightiest empires…

But for now at least, League continues growing at a record pace, its team-based strategic action gameplay loop virtually unmatched in terms of competitive depth and spectator appeal.

While I expect more heated battles ahead in the coming decade, LoL sits firmly atop the gaming hierarchy heading into 2023 with no signs of abdicating its hard-earned crown anytime soon.

Now if you‘ll excuse me, promos await as I grind desperately to reach Emerald ranking in Wild Rift before the kiddies get out of school.

The struggle never ends…