Some people think Dota 2 is huge. Sure, it can often get half a million people playing a day – that’s nothing to sneeze at. But League of Legends is in a, uh, league of its own.
According to Riot Games, League of Legends has doubled its players since October 2012. That’s right, it now sees more than 27 million gamers playing it every day with a peak of 7.5 million concurrent users. No wonder they were able to bring in $624 million in revenue last year despite being completely playable for free. That is an enormous install base.
Let’s do a quick comparison. Here is a pretty graph courtesy of Steamgraph (a tool that is far too much fun):
So, when Dota 2 hit its impressive peak of 645 254 concurrent users on 4 January, it was still only 8% of LoL’s numbers. That is simply insane. Some people believe that players are moving away from Dota 2 towards LoL, but it could also just be that the install base is growing. Either way, it certainly dwarfs games like COD. Even L4D2 (which we should play again tonight) barely makes a dent in users, and it was given away for free in December.
This can only be good for eSports – the more people playing the game, the more likely it is that they will watch the pros play the game. The more people getting involved in eSports, the more sponsors will invest and the more established pro gaming will become.
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Last Updated: January 28, 2014
Gerhard Davids
January 28, 2014 at 10:36
Those are some serious numbers.
While I enjoy both LoL and DotA I find myself spending far more time playing LoL.
It just has a higher fun factor overall.
Kyratic
January 28, 2014 at 11:07
I must agree, I have Dota 2 and LoL, but honestly prefer LoL, It’s definitely easier to pick up. Just playing an ARAM or dominion is even more fun than the original. and well the community is nicer 🙂
Gerhard Davids
January 28, 2014 at 11:17
Right on man, Especially ARAM. It’s easier to get casual friends joining you when there’s less pressure on them to do the right thing, ARAM is often just a kill fest in lower brackets.
Matthew Holliday
January 28, 2014 at 10:37
If league of legends players knew how to use a keyboard, they would make the dota community look like, well, really nice people.
Estian Hough
January 28, 2014 at 11:00
I don’t think LoL players are going to Dota, but I don’t think Dota players are going to LoL either. Not in significant numbers in anyway.
Both the LoL and Dota 2 communities are filled with racists, jerks, kids, trolls and the like. Though – it seems like Riot is doing a lot more to try and manage it.
Matthew Holliday
January 28, 2014 at 13:50
alot of the palyers on the US servers are ex LoL players, not so much the EU or other servers though.
theres a big difference between the LoL and dota mechanics, and you dont have to pay to play other heroes.
Kyratic
January 28, 2014 at 16:49
Alot of LoL players are Ex dota 1 players, when dota 2 came out we gave it a try, and were dissapointed. So back to LoL we went… and I have unlocked almost all of the LoL heroes without paying a cent, you earn them through playing…
Sebastian
May 9, 2014 at 13:03
so let me tell me i have earned 215$ just selling a single item that called dc hook(dragonclaw hook a item for pudge) and i never spent any money on do ta 2 . and unlocking heroes with what kind of is that? in dota 2 u dont need pay anything to play any hero and in dota 2 a poor man can easly win every single game without paying money its a fair game for all and dota 2 is selling items and tournament tickets and item are for particular hero but that item dont make the hero strong the item is only for looks in game so for me playing dota 2 is much better a fair game without money
Kyratic
May 9, 2014 at 13:22
I have both Lol and Dota 2.
Neither game requires a cent to play. All purchaseable items are cosmetic.
In LoL, hero’s are purchasable, before you earn them, but even if you dont own them they are still on the free weekly rotation.
Yes you can buy things in LoL they dont affect balance.
ie niether game is more fair than the other.
And all people claiming one is better than the other are simply expressing their opinion. In South Africa due to a local server, it is more logical to play Dota 2. but that doesn’t make it a better game.
FearsomeClarinet
May 24, 2014 at 01:20
Well, the ability to unlock champions, runes, and masteries makes the game slightly unbalanced for newer players. Although Dota 2 has a steeper learning curve, your ability to learn pushes you further into the game. League has a much less steep learning curve (don’t argue with me league players, its not necessarily a bad thing.), but they have unlockables to try to keep players in it, but this inevitably leads to unbalance. The unbalance isn’t massive, but what if one champion can counter your champion (albeit slightly as league doesn’t believe in hard counters) then the player that has more champions has an obvious advantage through his available adaptability. You can like league, and its unlockable section, but all of my points above are true. And if anyone tries to argue something thats OP in DotA I will happily argue against it, as long as the argument is intelligent and not just “DOTAS UNFER, ONE CHAMMPIN KILS HOLE TAM WHEN E RN In BLINDLY ND DNT THNK B4 WE ECT!”. Yeah, seriously, I’d like to think there are people who can argue intelligently about it.
Cosmin
May 24, 2014 at 20:35
While all that is true. I would argue that only in ranked is where people actually play seriously, where they really do or die. Now some will laugh, but that’s true. I regularly get 1h+ games in ranked, and that is almost double the average amount. But ranked only starts at lvl 30. By that level you will have enough IP to buy all the runes, and a nice number of champs. Besides alot of the really really cheap champs are pretty good. Annie for example costs 450 (4 5v5 matches won), and honestly while some may be stronger than others, they are still not out of the picture. Pros play some champs because they know the meta and what is the most efficient, but new players don’t. So anything looking strong, like a guy with a big sword will seem really really strong.
Also I would argue about DotA 2 that It’s alot more about the teamcomps, that the heroes decide who wins a lot more of the time. And I think that is because
of the power of said hero skills. For example mirana stealths your whole team, doom can lock a target out of doing anything and so on. I’m not saying these guys are particularly strong, I’m just saying their skills effects are a little too much.
FearsomeClarinet
May 29, 2014 at 22:11
Yeah, see this is what I was looking for, this guy has a mature and honest view on the subject. Now, all of your views are correct and unarguable, and honestly drafting does mean a lot. That’s part of why I prefer Dota, instead of pure reflexes its more deeply thought out plans. But even though Mirana and Dooms abilities are somewhat OP, Dota sort of follows an “every hero is OP” philosophy. The games abilities are absolutely game changing on every hero, like dooms ability to shut people down, but the downside is that, well, that IS what he does. Thats it, I mean, thats what he gets picked for. Most heroes are like that, having one ability that is absolutely gamechanging and the fact that that is what their ability does means that other heroes still have things he doesn’t. But not to say League is bad, both games are made by very good game developers and are well put together.
Cosmin
May 29, 2014 at 22:52
True.
Ne0nGreen
June 15, 2014 at 21:45
This is false, When you play you get matched with players about your level. So runes an masteries make hardly any difference when your all the same level. Every champ is counterable and even though u can BUY champs doesn’t mean it’s an unfair advantage BECAUSE every champ i as i said earlier is counterable. I play both Dota 2 and League and i’m mid elo in both, but my vote goes 100% to LOL.
Chrisdyan
December 18, 2014 at 14:37
I played Dota 1 for +8k games, then i heard there is dota 2 coming from valve, then i stopped playing dota1 and played +800 games LoL in 1 year, then i noticed that runes and masteries have a difference owning a lane and in farming, but the biggest unbalancing thing is AP, with almost all heroes whose AP can be significantly increased and have to mention again this few% from runes makes the game totally unbalanced, you can just 1 shot heroes, and most annoying thing was that there was not enough magic resistance items either to counter it for low hp mages and carries early game especially, only those few “must have” spells in pro games like flash/ignite . LoL was too casual and way too unbalanced, Dota has gone through almost 10 years of polishing now, and finally got some better graphics also thanks to Valve that has made very nice job indeed. Updates are mostly balancing, and heroes go through 1 year guarantine time from captains mode, so it cannot be played in tournament matches before its balanced.
Both are good games in their way, but i like more competitive and hero balanced gaming, than casual arcade style, last hundred games i played LoL was ARAM, it was a fun mode cause normal gameplay was just missing something. Then i got beta invite to Dota 2 and uninstalled LoL pretty fast when i noticed how much i liked its balanced hero/item pool and denying farm from some critical hero dagger, before your own team got one for your main disabler, farming in LoL was so much easier – everyone had some nuke to take down waves of creeps and high income, or what about deny your enemy the much needed exp to get that lvl 6 to unlock ultimate before your lane enemy.
And for conclusion, that Dota was the first MOBA, and main developers of HoN/LoL were polishing dota + 5years before they even started working on those titles. Why to add some “bushes” in game so few leafs can hide and army, i like it more realistic, that you need a big tree to escape in fog, or even cut the tree down to make new paths. More realistic/better blood and graphics overall and VALVE is even making the graphics better all the time. Candy land graphics straight from cartoon network, with 4-7yo kids voices telling “im going to kill you” just aint for me, they made me laugh for the first times i played with them, but after a while they just started to annoy cause overly childish heroes, and i do remember turning unit voices down completely cause this.
I think LoL has its popularity just cause it was first completely free MOBA game, and first players trying LoL was Dota veterans, and they managed to recruit their little brothers to LoL, cause it was free and the word spread in schools etc. and got its playerbase before dota 2 was even released, people who wants some balanced very competitive gameplay will turn to dota cause its more complex and needs more teamplay. But just for casual solo gaming LoL might be better.
Perfect_answer
September 9, 2014 at 01:14
In LOL is the same the heroes are bought with points you earn from playing the game , and there are not strong and weak heroes/champions they are equal , it just depends on the way you play . Yes you can buy skins(visual change of a champion/hero) with euros but that doesn’t affect your game at all and a poor man can easily win every game too but its more likely to play LOL , because in order to play LOL u don’t need really strong pc ( the system requirements of DOTA 2 are higher than LOL) and every week there are 10 free champions/heroes you can play (2 for each role top/jungle/mid/adc/supp)
DarthofZA
January 28, 2014 at 11:40
Dota2 might have a higher growth percentage wise, but not number wise. Since Dota2 became available, more people have started playing LoL than have started playing Dota2. If I have 2 cookies, then get 8 more, I have 400% growth. But if you had 200 cookies, and got 100 more, it is only 50% more. Dota2 is growing nicely, but it is still not growing by the same amount of people that LoL is growing by.
Stephen Stobie
April 8, 2014 at 17:39
compare the type of growth in the time period dota has been out dota left beta in 2013 so compare game growth over the first year dota 2 vs lol and i think you might be surprised also lols recent growth spurt I think was in its response to compete with dota 2 by also changing to free to play.
34
January 7, 2015 at 18:30
Lol’s always been F2P.
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
January 28, 2014 at 11:55
I played LoL while I was waiting for DOTA2 and it just taught me that I hate LoL and mainly the people in LoL. It was probably my worst experience when dealing with a gaming community. Stereotypical kids talking about banging my mom. Horrible.
DOTA2 I feel has a more grownup base in general. The game also feels like way more of a challenge and enjoyable experience. DOTA <3
DarthofZA
January 28, 2014 at 11:58
I had the exact opposite experience. I’ve been playing LoL for years, and encounter someone in a game that annoys me maybe once a week. When I played Dota2, each game had at least 5 of them. When I gave up on Dota2 and went back to LoL, I became a full on LoL fanboy 😀
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
January 28, 2014 at 12:00
Each to his own in the end.
I also don’t like the cartoony feel that LoL has. DOTA2 just looks so much better.
Matthew Holliday
January 28, 2014 at 13:42
couldnt stand the level of “Cutesy” in LoL.
hated not having a courier, hated not being able to deny.
but mostly it just didnt feel right, there was an odd response time from the game. was common with alot of the RTS type games that came out around that time, sorta rubber bandy.
Matthew Holliday
January 28, 2014 at 13:37
I played maybe 5 LoL games and felt like i was playing bubble pop or something.
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
January 28, 2014 at 13:39
I actually put the time in. About 3-4 months, but I just couldn’t anymore. When I got a DOTA2 key in a raffle it was like someone saving me from drowning. Same thing kind of goes for HoN btw…
Matthew Holliday
January 28, 2014 at 13:45
never played any HoN, nothing i saw made me prefer it over WC3 dota.
I was also heavilly into my CoD4 at the time, one doesnt have much time for other games when practisign and playing AGASA league games.
UltimateNinjaPandaDudeGuy
January 28, 2014 at 13:46
Yeah you saved money there… I actually went from HoN BACK to WC3 DOTA…
I love DOTA and have tested enough of the others to know that this is precisely where I need to be.
Duckky bro
April 3, 2014 at 10:40
I’m happy that you know where you need to be. But I still like lol better >:D
SuyashisBoss
March 13, 2015 at 06:05
That is true. But Dota will get corrupt soon(don’t argue, every game does) it will be behind league. Riot REALLY wants a good community of players and is striving a lot of effort into making that true. If you behave yourself for one season(9 months) you have a chance of earning $5-$30 in game(skins for champs) that’s something Dota cannot compete.
Anon A Mouse
January 28, 2014 at 10:55
Why do I feel the urge to look for Wally in that header pic?
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
January 28, 2014 at 11:20
Found him! oh wait no. Sorry. False alarm. Carry on!
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
January 28, 2014 at 11:20
That is a lot of players. Sheesh. Crazy
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
January 28, 2014 at 11:26
In your face, Call of Duty!
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
January 28, 2014 at 11:27
Don’t you mean “Your mother!” ??
Her Highness the Hipster
January 28, 2014 at 11:30
just got a bizarre mental image of a banana tea bagging
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
January 28, 2014 at 11:32
So I went looking for that on google. The internet has let me down. All I found was this:
http://i.colnect.net/images/f/459/637/Banana-paper-bag.jpg
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 28, 2014 at 11:38
Damn you! Damn you straight to hell! I was just going to post that with a witty comment about having RooibosRince & Banana Tea. You RUINED it.
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
January 28, 2014 at 11:38
Sorry 😛
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 28, 2014 at 11:38
LIES
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
January 28, 2014 at 11:39
Yeah you are right. I’m totally not sorry 🙂
Alien Emperor Trevor
January 28, 2014 at 11:42
I also sat there for a second wondering why I couldn’t find a picture of a banana & some tea bags lol. Honestly surprised. You can find everything else on the internet, why not that?
Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!
January 28, 2014 at 11:45
It’s super difficult I know! I was horrified that it didn’t readily exist!
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
January 28, 2014 at 11:45
I did find banana slices in tea, which seems an awful waste of a good banana and a good cup of tea.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/44858181@N00/5390628582/in/photostream/
Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)
January 28, 2014 at 11:42
I would pay real money for a banana suit in Battlefield 4. PS: I really miss Timesplitters. 🙁
http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/scale_super/gamespot/images/2012/173/reviews/1964084-674950_20120623_009.jpg
Kyratic
January 28, 2014 at 11:54
^^
Rags
January 28, 2014 at 12:44
Speaking of esports, what happened in last nights grudge match?
Matthew Holliday
January 28, 2014 at 13:39
the BVD vs eN game?
i only watched the first game, BVD stomped it.
eN got a 5 man wipe towards the end of the game, then BVD respawned and casually took 2 raxxes.
clitsy on the carry luna for eN, only had like treads and a yasha by the time the game ended.
Rags
January 28, 2014 at 13:51
Thanks for the update 🙂
Indelible
April 23, 2014 at 02:18
LoL will always be more popular, this is becuase its more new player freindly, and the learing curve is nowhere near as steep as DotA 2. I play both games, but i enjoy DotA more becuase theres a lot more mechanics involved and more of a challenge, but this is just to much for a lot of people to enjoy. LoL is a more casual game, but despite being mobas, the two games are very different, both good in their own way.
Jim M
May 7, 2014 at 20:32
Riot has spend boatloads of money to keep the community under check (arguably the biggest problem of any MOBA).
The tribunal system was a stroke of genius and things like honor do a great deal to calm the in-game craziness.
But Riot also spends $$$ in balancing, something that DOTA2 desperately needs. Riot testing team has been growing tremendously and nowadays you are hard pressed to find OP champions and most of those who are OP are legacy champions >3 years old
True Story
August 2, 2014 at 01:01
Dota 2 is for hardcore fans of the MOBA genre and LoL is for thoase who want to oneshot people with 2 spells and feel good bout it thats bout it if you are a 14 year old kid who never played mobas and you have to choose you are going to choose Lol ofcourse cuz if you choose dota 2 you will get your face dent in for months and months before if you have any clue what the game is all about
Nah you're wrong bra'h
September 14, 2014 at 17:54
Ya’know… League of Legends is the Mother (or Father, who knows :p) of MOBA this whole Genre COMES FROM LoL just for those who want to argue about that… also My opinion about which game is better is definitly on the side of League since it’s way easier for beginners of MOBA’s and is way more fun (also laughing about some strange kids swearing about the parents of the other players ^^).
But if I could add another Game to this… Just a few years ago.. LOCO was my favorite MOBA. It wasn’t the best but it was the game you could have the most fun at when you played with friends, well now it’s gone.
34
January 7, 2015 at 18:33
Dota was first, but League is the king right now.
Truer Story
September 18, 2014 at 22:02
idk much abt both but your reply is urghhh… feel like its written by 10 years old boy. Or worse, I think my little nephew can express his opinion better than you
Josh
May 24, 2015 at 01:38
The only way you can one shot people in league is if you get fed and i’m sure its the same way in Dota. Also league is just as “hard” for new players as Dota is because on both games the players you will face will also be new, unless if Dota doesn’t balance the teams in which case that’s a fault on their part.
kwanabooo
January 3, 2015 at 12:31
yep dota 2 is for real men lol is a good training game b4 you step in da big leagues
Josh
May 24, 2015 at 01:30
troll detected
Franck Gerald Dumdum
April 11, 2015 at 11:06
league of legends is for kids only no nooooooob lol players 😀
Franck Gerald Dumdum
April 11, 2015 at 11:07
mga bobo lol players
Franck Gerald Dumdum
April 11, 2015 at 11:07
fuck your mother lol players
Franck Gerald Dumdum
April 11, 2015 at 11:07
fuck you all lol players
Franck Gerald Dumdum
April 11, 2015 at 11:07
mga bogo
Franck Gerald Dumdum
April 11, 2015 at 11:08
piste
yawa lol players