League of Legends and Diffusion
https://www.unrankedsmurfs.com/blog/why-is-league-of-legends-so-popular
League of Legends (LoL) is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games .It is a MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) where 2 teams (blue and red) face off. In League of Legends, players assume the role of a “champion” with unique abilities and battle against a team of other player- or computer-controlled champions. There are 3 lanes, a jungle, and 5 roles. The goal is to take down the enemy Nexus to win the game. It has been one of the most popular PC games. The game has been so popular for 10 years now. The article talks about how the game becomes popular. And diffusion is used here to attract more player to play the game.
The article mentions that the game is popular for multiple reasons. First, it updates regularly which means that the game is new and refreshing for all the users. Second it is very competitive, this means that players will be motivated to climb higher and higher in the League of Legends Ladder. The game has a rank system where you can make your rank higher and higher by winning games. And on the other hand, if you lose games, your rank will go lower and lower. Also the game is very short meaning that players can spend a reasonable amount of time on the game. This attracts people. And finally since it is a multiplayer game, this means that players will introduce friends to play the game. And this will cause diffusion and a cascade effect to happen in a cluster of friends.
Diffusion happens because a behavior in a population happens and changes other people’s behaviors. In this example, if some players tries the league of legends game and think that it is fun and entertaining. Then the player will introduce the game to his or her friends and also maybe leave a good review online for others to see. Now, having being introduced to the game or seeing a good review online, other players might join the community as well. And once they feel the same towards the game(thinking that the game is fun and entertaining), the players that listened to the friends that joined the game might also tell their friends to join the game or leave good reviews about the game. This leads into a cascade and will attract more and more people into the game.
And making an individual who do not play league originally play the game might require more than one person that wants them to play the game or one review online that suggests that the game is entertaining. This leads to the concept of threshold. It is different for each individuals where their thresholds are. But if a certain amount of friends suggests the game to the player, then once the amount is reached the individual will play the game maybe due to peer pressure. Individuals might feel isolated if all of his or her friends play the game except for that specific individual. And because the game is free, individuals are more likely to try the game because there is no cost for trying the game except for their time. Having the game free makes this threshold lower because individuals are more likely to try the game now. And now due to this effect, more and more people are able to try the game and spread the game. Therefore, nowadays, League of Legends is one of the most popular PC games.