When WarCraft 3 came onto the scene, it dominated online gaming thanks in part to a custom map
known as Defense of the Ancients.
DOTA, as it came to be known, outlived WarCraft 3 and went on to become its own genre, Multiplayer
Online Battle Arena.
But before breaking out of Blizzard’s World Editor, two friends had an idea; transform
DOTA into a live service that was constantly updated, reiterated, and supported beyond
its release.
In 2006, DOTA fans Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill formed Riot Games and brought on Steve “Guinsoo”
Feak and Steve “Pendragon” Mescon to help bring that idea to life.
Three years later, Riot released League of Legends to much fanfare gave the world their
first taste of the next generation in MOBA gaming.
The game was a success, but little did the team know how far League of Legends would
come in just three short years.
After a successful tournament at Sweden’s Dreamhack convention in the summer of 2011,
League of Legends skyrocketed to video game fame, but Riot still lived in the shadow of
what it considered its big brother, Blizzard.
Slowly but surely, League of Legends climbed in international popularity until it did the
unthinkable: dethrone StarCraft as the biggest game in South Korea.
With Korea in its pocket, League of Legends went on to become the biggest esports event
in North America, drawing thousands to its Season Two World Championships.
However, Riot dreamed of taking over the sports arena down the street for its next big event
- and only a year removed from Season Two, Riot had done it: the Season Three World Championships
kicked off in front of a sellout crowd at the world-famous Staples Center.
Now a money-printing-machine disguised as the number one multiplayer game in the world,
what else is there for Riot to do?
Well, somebody is buying those skins, right?
Have fun!