Sports is an international cultural activity that is shared and enjoyed by everyone across the globe. Some people even believe that sport is one of the major ways of uniting the world. When people think of sports, they often think of it as an outfield or outdoor event comprising of a tangible playing field and a visible opponent. In recent days, however, a new version of sports known as E-Sports has emerged. The E, in this case, stands for electronic. These electronic sports have been part and parcel of modern culture and cannot be ignored. Inadvertently, their emergence prompts the re-definition of the term sports (Hinnant 20). The rapid rise of E-sports has led many to accept them as actual sports. The individuals who participate in these sports are increasingly being accepted as actual athletes and there has been wide advocacy for E-Sports which are mainly in the format of video games to be accepted as real professional sports (Hinnant 23). This advocacy has mainly been spearheaded by young people, and one of the reasons forwarded by these people is that E-Sports are an opportunity to connect globally (Lee n.p).
One of the electronic sports that has been very popular globally is League of Legends which is a multiplayer game. The game has become so popular worldwide to the point that international tournaments pitting players from different nations are held occasionally. Through such global tournaments, players not only get an opportunity to test their skills, but they also get to meet and interact with people from different global areas and perhaps share crucial ideas that promote globalization (Hinnant 31). The same effect or impact is felt when the game is played online since people from virtually any corner of the world can play against one another and possibly exchange ideas that extend beyond the game itself.
The League of Legend was developed by Riot Games. The development of the game commenced around 2006, and it was officially announced in late 2008. The game is headquartered in North America, but Riot Games has over the years signed various deals regarding it distribution to various places across the world like Asia and Europe. Currently, the game is distributed to wide places across the world including the United States, the Philippines, Europe, Canada and South Korea. The game has not only been received well by the fans, but it has also been favorably received by critics. Some of the aspects of the game that have particularly received enormous praise include its design, lively visuals, and good customization options.
One aspect that must receive credit for its role in the globalization of the League of Legends is the global web or the internet. The internet has availed a globally linked network via which media forms, images, cultural texts and products circulate the word. This is how the League of Legends has been able to permeate the North American region where it was born and spread across the world to become a global phenomenon. Through the internet, the game has spread like a wildfire collecting individuals from all walks of life who are brought together by the sheer pleasures availed by the game (Newon 19). This is not unlike other cultural texts and artifacts that have been actively promoted by the internet. Without the internet, some of these artefacts would never have left the regions where they were first created and millions of individuals who would enjoy the artefacts would not have even been aware of their existence let alone access them (Dyer-Witheford n.p). Therefore, the role of the internet as a supporting tool for the globalization of the League of Legends is very clear.
The rapid rise and popularity of League of Legends resonates with theories of globalization. The game is itself a global artifact. By playing the game online, global rivalries and global friendships are created locally. The game has continued to break borders as it becomes even more popular across the world.
In recent years, an annual League of Legends tournament has been held bringing together players from all over the world. The global popularity of the game is evident through the larger audience that views such championship. For instance, the event held in 2014 had a global audience of over 27 million people (Lee n.p). The players as well as the viewers all come from different ethnicities and nationalities, and both come together to promote e-sports as part of the mainstream culture (Lee n.p). Therefore, as the League of Legends’ popularity continues growing, it inadvertently becomes a path or a tool to connect people from all nationalities.
One question that inadvertently arises is how exactly the game has become so popular and why it has become globalized so quickly. The popularity of the game has come about as a result of intelligent marketing strategies by Riot Games, the owners of the franchise. First of all the game is free of charge. There are very few entry barriers, and this is one of the reasons why many people across the globe have taken up to the game. If one installs the game and does not like it, all they have is to install it. If they feel like ever playing the game again, there are no hassles involved in installing it again.
The aspects of pushing updates onto live servers is another strategy that the company is actively pursuing. This is meant to cater to the needs and wants of the playing community further building up the image of a player-focused company. Riot Games concentrates on building their brand via the player perspective. This results in the players of the game doing most of the marketing. A large number of League of Legends players actually start playing the game after hearing it from friends who have played the game (Quora n.p). There is essentially a strong link between the game developers and the community. When it comes to listening to players and their perspectives, Riot Games who are the League of Legends developers are very active. They take the suggestions of players very seriously. They do not just listen to suggestion to actually act on them in order to satisfy the players who are the customers. This is why there are constant changes in the game, another positive aspect that has promoted its global popularity. All these changes are meant to improve the player’s experience while playing the game.
Chris Erock who is the senior marketing director of the game states that many people have no problem recommending the game to their friends because they are constantly seeing the regular improvements that are made on the game (Quora n.p).
This aspect has actually made Riot Games to come up with the “Refer-A-Friend” program. This program rewards players for bringing or referring their friend to the game (Quora n.p). Via this program, players are able to earn rewards such as exclusive character skins, forum titles, in-game influence among others.
The senior marketing director further goes on to state that the company has not focused on traditional acquisition marketing or doing massive media buys. Alternatively, the company has been helping its players to engage with the game and the brand, and this has in fact been the primary company strategy for player retention and acquisition (Quora n.p).
These marketing strategies has helped to push the game towards to its global iconic status that it enjoys today. The ‘refer a friend’ program has seen people from all over the world introduce their peers and friends to the game further promoting it and bringing about an element of globalization.
So popular has been the game that it is currently offered as a class at the University of California, Berkeley. The class is solely focused on the game and begins by discussing some of the basic statistics that are used in the analysis of League of Legends gameplay (Blog of Legends n.p). This is then followed by lessons on team composition, micro, and macro level gameplay. The class then transitions to other related topics including champion design, psychology, game modes, competitive senses and legal issues (Blog of Legends n.p). Although the main goal of many of the students attending the class is to improve their gameplay, the facilitators of the class hope that those who attend the class come out actually having had the chance to critically think and analyze the game through the other lenses mentioned above (Blog of Legends n.p).
The League of Legends can be likened to neoliberal economics which also requires globalization in order to reach people all over the world. The League of Legends is an E-sport, an entity that is rooted in both immaterial labor as well as the time-space compression of the web. Consequently, the game is represented as a sporting activity that takes not considerate of nationalities. The maintenance of such a global image translates to ignoring some of the racial disparities of this sport and developing some game elements that not only appeal to global audiences but also reinforce its global nature.
The impact of the game is therefore very visible. It is no longer just an online game for a reserve few in North America but is now a global game enjoyed by everyone. In the process of becoming a global game, it has managed to bring together people from all walks of life, from different cultures, ethnicities and nationalities.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that E-sports like the League of Legends have been incorporated into the mainstream culture and have become a global phenomenon. Through tools of globalization such as the internet, the League of Legends has been transferred to all global corners where it has brought together people from different facets of life. This is what globalization is all about. An idea or artifact from one region spreads across the world and benefits people from different regions in addition to bringing them together and enabling them to break various cultural, national, racial and ethnic borders. This globalization is also attributable to smart social marketing strategies and this is once again evident in the case of League of Legends whose brand has actually been promoted by the players themselves rather than its parent company engaging in massive corporate advertising and promotion. Given the current status of things, the popularity of the League of Legends will only continue increasing and its status as a global phenomenon will only become stronger.
Works Cited
"UC Berkeley Students Offering Class to Learn LoL." Blog of Legends UC Berkley Students Offering Class to Learn LoL Comments. 5 June 2015. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://blogoflegends.com/2015/06/05/uc-berkley-students-offering-class-to-learn-lol/>.
Dyer-Witheford, Nick, and Greig De Peuter. Games of empire: Global capitalism and video games. Vol. 29. U of Minnesota Press, 2009.
Hinnant, Neal C. "Practicing Work, Perfecting Play: League of Legends and the Sentimental Education of E-Sports." (2013).
Lee, Sean Sy. "E-Sports: Paving the Way for Globalization." SIS TIGER NEWS. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://www.sistigernews.com/e-sports-paving-the-way-for-globalization.html>.
Newon, Lisa Ann. Discourses of Connectedness: Globalization, Digital Media, and the Language of Community. Diss. University of California, Los Angeles, 2014.
Quora. Web. 25 July 2015. <http://www.quora.com/What-marketing-strategy-does-Riot-Games-use-to-promote-League-of-Legends>.
