17 years ago today League of Legends released

League of Legends is officially 17 years old as the world's most-popular MOBA celebrates its anniversary today.

League of Legends first released on Oct. 27, 2009, introducing the world to Riot Games’ lightweight take on the original Dota Allstars mod for Warcraft III. The first stand-alone version of the genre which Riot would dub the Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA), League of Legends has endured as one of the biggest and most influential games in the esports and gaming space ever since.

League of Legends celebrates its 17th anniversary

Upon first release, League of Legends was released with a physical box and extra skins alongside the downloadable version, as publishers at the time didn’t believe a game without a physical box would sell. These physical versions came packages with exclusive skins, such as the sought after Black Alistar skin. Later versions of this box didn’t even include a disk, just a set of codes for the skins.

League of Legends slowly grew into the monolith it is today through years of development and changes. Piggybacking off the start of video game livestreaming that StarCraft 2 had built, LoL became the most-watched game in the world in short order, in thanks part to its accessibility and free-to-play nature.

LoL quickly became one of the largest esports in the world, although to this day continues its struggle for the crown with the likes of CS2, Dota 2, and others.

Today League of Legends seems to still be going strong, although recent missteps by Riot Games would tell a different story.

The closure of LoL Classic, the sunsetting of 2XKO, the swandering of the Arcane hype train showcases that while League of Legends is a monolith of gaming, it still sways in the winds of change.

League of Legends is celebrating its 17th year with the continuation of its World Championships, Worlds 2026, which are taking a brief break today before the Swiss Stage and Eliminations continue.