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# Who Made League of Legends?
- URL: https://blog.loltheory.gg/who-made-league-of-legends/
- Published: 2023-08-09T18:06:13.000Z
- Updated: 2026-08-25T02:55:15.000Z
- Author: Griffin Wood
- Tags: League of Legends, Riot Games

League of Legends was made by **Riot Games**, a company co-founded by **Brandon "Ryze" Beck** and **Marc "Tryndamere" Merrill** in 2006\. Beck and Merrill were USC roommates who bonded over playing DotA (Defense of the Ancients), a Warcraft III mod. They started building LoL in late 2005 and [launched the game on October 27, 2009](https://blog.loltheory.gg/when-did-league-of-legends-come-out).

Beyond the founders, several key developers shaped LoL's early design:

- **Steve "Guinsoo" Feak** \- Game Designer who previously maintained DotA Allstars (the mod that directly inspired LoL). Feak designed or co-designed 29 of the original champions, and the item Guinsoo's Rageblade is named after him.
- **Steve "Pendragon" Mescon** \- Director of Community Relations. He ran DotA-Allstars.com, the largest DotA community hub, for over four years before joining Riot.
- **Tom "Zileas" Cadwell** \- Came from Blizzard, where he worked on World of Warcraft's talent system and Warcraft III balance. He co-designed early champions like Annie and Ashe and built the Tribunal system.

Riot Games is fully owned by Tencent, a Chinese technology company. Tencent acquired a majority stake in February 2011 and completed the full acquisition in December 2015\. Beck and Merrill remain at Riot as Co-Chairmen. League of Legends is a [MOBA](https://blog.loltheory.gg/what-genre-is-league-of-legends) (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) with 173 champions as of 2026.