League of Legends Celebrates Strong Numbers In 2019, Both Viewership and Dollars
Photo by Michal Konkol/Riot Games
No one can argue that it was a great year for Riot. The end of the decade saw the company storm back onto the scene following a 2018 that was mired in a class-action lawsuit. While 2019 certainly passed the eyeball test, we’ve now got the numbers to back it up.
Starting with Twitch viewership, League of Legends had the most watched event of the year. The World Championships accounted for 137 million hours watched this year, with a peak of around 3.9 million viewers during the finals. That number leaves the Fortnite World Cup in the dust, as it capped at around 2.3 million viewers.
Moving on to dollars and cents, it was a big year for the gaming industry in general. With over 120 billion dollars brought in, 2019 was a great year for video games. League of Legends accounted for over 1.5 billion dollars in 2019, which does trail behind Fortnite. Epic’s battle royale accounted for 1.8 billion dollars, which is down 28% from last year.
Joe’s thoughts: It’s no secret that I’m a big League of Legends fan. I’m happy to see the numbers bearing out the excitement around the scene. I would expect these numbers to grow even more in 2020, which will mark the tenth anniversary of League of Legends esports. The World Championships in China this year are already appointment viewing.