League of Legends earns $600m in 2013, still comes in second in online revenue

By Ryan Fleming Published January 20, 2014

League of Legends had a good year in 2013 – a very good year. Riot Games’ multiplayer online battle arena title earned an impressive $624 million in revenue, and yet it still came in a distant second to the South Korean online shooter CrossFire, which earned $957 million according to GI.biz.

Using info collected by SuperData, based on mictotransactions, three of the top five online games were from South Korea – CrossFire, Dungeon Fighter Online, and Maplestory. The other game in the top five is World of Tanks, which was first launched in Russia but is available worldwide.

Recommended Videos

There is a slight caveat to the list though. The numbers are all based entirely on microtransactions, and while World of Warcraft earned $213 million through this method alone, it also charges a monthly subscription fee which was not figured into the totals.

1. CrossFire – $957 million

2. League of Legends – $624 million

3. Dungeon Fighter Online – $426 million

4. World of Tanks – $372 million

5. MapleStory – $326 million

6. Lineage – $257 million

7. World of Warcraft – $213 million

8. Star Wars: The Old Republic – $139 million

9. Team Fortress 2 – $139 million

10. CounterStrike Online – $121 million

Former Gaming/Movies Editor

Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…

Topics

Gaming

LG’s bonkers 1,000Hz gaming monitor is now available for $1,000

The UltraGear 25G590B reaches 1,000Hz without dropping below Full HD

LG UltraGear 1000Hz monitor featured.

LG’s insanely fast UltraGear 25G590B finally has a price and a US release date. The 24.5-inch esports monitor is now available to preorder exclusively from LG for $999.99, with free expedited shipping scheduled to begin on September 1.

The headline feature is a native 1,000Hz refresh rate at 1920 x 1080, making it the first Full HD gaming monitor to reach that speed without dropping to a lower resolution. The screen can update up to 1,000 times per second, or once every millisecond. LG also lets users overclock it to 1,100Hz.

Gaming

PlayStation discs are dying in 2028, and fan backlash isn’t changing Sony’s mind

Sony is pushing PlayStation toward an all-digital future, protests be damned

Book, Publication, Adult

Sony just hit the final nail in the coffin for physical game discs for PlayStation. Despite the month-long backlash from its fans, the company has confirmed that it is still going ahead with its controversial decision. Sony CFO Lin Tao addressed the criticism during the company’s latest earnings briefing, confirming that Sony plans to proceed with its decision to end physical disc production for new PlayStation releases beginning in January 2028.

Tao acknowledged that players have strong opinions about physical media, while saying Sony spent considerable time evaluating the decision before reaching its conclusion. But at the end of the day, the message was still the same.

Gaming

GTA 6 owns November, unless the Ocarina of Time Remake has something to say about it

If any game can launch alongside GTA 6, it’s Ocarina of Time Remake

The cast of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time poses in promotional art.

When a major studio or publisher drops a legacy AAA title, other studios generally avoid releasing around the same timeline to avoid having their sales eaten by the more popular game. So when Grand Theft Auto 6 finally got its release date, it was clear no one would be shipping their game during the same month.

But another game maker might be challenging it with a goliath of its own. A new discovery on Nintendo’s UK store has sparked speculation that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake could launch on November 12, just seven days before GTA 6 arrives on November 19.