Introduction: The S16 season matches have officially started, and the vast majority of players have been paying attention to the recent contests. The LPL is currently on a brief hiatus, with fierce elimination rounds coming after the New Year. For those wanting to watch games these days, the LCK playoffs are ongoing without pause. Recently, a data leaderboard has also gone viral, surprising fans as League of Legends ranked first, even surpassing Delta in popularity. Is this really the game people have long claimed is fading? No wonder their playoff tickets are priced as high as 699—they clearly have confidence.

LOL firmly holds the top spot in online game popularity

Most players are quite familiar with League of Legends. As an esports game, it has grown remarkably in just over a decade. World-class tournaments keep the game enduringly popular. However, in recent years, with some veteran players retiring, the LPL region’s popularity has fluctuated significantly, especially for offline viewing, sometimes lacking fans to the point that staff had to dress up as supporters. Many thought the league’s popularity had seriously declined, but an official data chart shattered that rumor.

This is a data ranking from internet cafes, where League of Legends surprisingly holds first place with no changes, showing remarkable stability. Delta and Valorant rank second and third. Honestly, given current attention, Delta seems hotter, but LOL’s top spot might be linked to the Hextech Mayhem mode. Since its release, the game’s popularity has surged, player retention has increased sharply, and massive server queues have even reappeared. The new mode clearly works; this chaotic gameplay attracts fans. However, the in-game bugs are excessive—players can buy items without dying.

Recently, LPL playoff ticket prices have been officially announced. The first round’s quarterfinal tickets are relatively expensive, with two matches daily priced between 158 and 699 across five tiers. Subsequent days have one match each, priced from 108 to 599, also in five tiers. The ticket prices sparked widespread online debate. Why does LPL dare to charge such high prices now? The highest price reaches 700, and it’s only for playoffs, not the finals. Many fans joked that some matches used to be free or even paid 50 yuan to enter as NPCs when they weren’t key battles.

During this LPL break, fans can watch LCK matches. The lower-ranked LCK teams seem unstable; matches between DNS and BFX lack excitement, especially with DNS losing. Their mid-laner shows no competitiveness, neither in lane farming nor team fights. DNS’s best player is probably the top-laner Dudu. It feels like his teammates don’t match his level. To exaggerate, if this top-laner joined T1, he might even win a World Championship.

Goodbye thoughts

Who would have thought that League of Legends could still rank first in popularity and remain so stable? No wonder the officials set such high ticket prices—this is where their confidence comes from. But I believe the current popularity isn’t driven by the matches themselves, but largely thanks to Hextech Mayhem. Since its launch last year, this mode has been very popular, even sparking widespread debate when it was temporarily removed. The officials made it permanent for the fans.

What do you all think about this?