Many players ask when did League of Legends come out. The game launched on October 27, 2009, in North America. But the story starts earlier with key dates in its development.
Riot Games first announced League of Legends on October 7, 2008. The game started as a Windows-only release, setting the foundation for what would become one of the biggest games in the world.
The closed beta testing began in April 2009. During this phase, players could test an early version of the game with just 17 champions.
Riot Games had planned to release the full game with 20 champions, but they doubled that number before the official launch.
The original release included the Summoner's Rift map, which remains the main battleground today. Back then, the game had a different story.
Players took the role of Summoners, powerful political leaders who controlled champions to prevent wars.
The game changed a lot after its release. The early version had simple character stories, often just a paragraph long. Riot didn't hire dedicated writers at first, leaving game designers to create brief character backgrounds.
This changed in 2014 when Riot removed the Summoner concept from the story. They expanded the game's universe and hired professional writers to create deeper stories for champions and regions.
I find it interesting that League started with such basic lore.
Now it has books, shows like Arcane, and detailed stories about its world and characters. The game grew from a simple release in 2009 to a global entertainment brand.
The release date marks the start of League's journey, but the game keeps changing and growing. Each year brings new champions, stories, and features far beyond what players first saw in 2009.
