Starting from August 27, 2026, the League of Legends 15th Anniversary Celebration, themed "Heroes Are Here Now," rolled out a series of activities. Many offline events were held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center and surrounding areas, covering anniversary benefits, multiple exhibition matches, an offline carnival, and the 2026 LPL Finals.
Over the past 15 years, League of Legends, as the most successful long-term operated game in China, has developed a massive matrix of games, esports, and IP content. There is too much worth discussing at this important milestone regarding what the brand has experienced and changed over these 15 years. On September 13, we were honored to receive an official invitation from League of Legends to conduct an in-depth interview with Mr. Su Panhui, Head of the Chinese Server, and Mr. Gan Lin, Head of Brand and Marketing for the League of Legends product series. We discussed gameplay and content updates, esports, offline experiences, and charitable actions.
Su Panhui (Left), Gan Lin (Right)
Below is the specific content of the interview:
Q: What have been the most concentrated player demands over the past year? Have these demands changed compared to before? How do you respond to these demands? Are there any hidden needs that players cannot see but urgently require, which you have identified and implemented?
Su Panhui:Currently, players' greatest enthusiasm is focused on the "Arena" mode, which can be intuitively seen from the anniversary events. This is not a phenomenon that appeared only this year. The predecessor of "Arena," "ARAM," already occupied a certain proportion in League of Legends. After the launch of "Arena," its randomness and diversity—called "abstract" by young people—integrated together, producing a very intense chemical reaction.
In the offline carnival "Union Park" we set up in Qiantan, Shanghai, there is a 150,000-layer "Heartsteel" Mundo inflatable model. Many players took photos there, fully demonstrating their enthusiasm for this mode. "Arena" has iterated to version 3.0 since its launch. We have been optimizing the Hextech designs, responding to current player enthusiasm, and will continue to invest in it.
What players haven't noticed is that as player enthusiasm rises, the market gradually expands and many segmented markets appear. We have observed some changes in player needs. The most direct manifestation is that after playing "Arena" extensively, players begin to develop competitive demands. Since "Arena" has no ranked mode, we deliberately designed it as a relaxed and casual mode, better fitting the current pursuit of a relaxed atmosphere. However, many players of this mode are also growing, and their demands for pressure and game fun are changing. Therefore, we have made corresponding adjustments and optimizations around these changes, gradually seeking a certain balance.
League of Legends has both players seeking relaxation and those seeking intense confrontation. Therefore, we find a balance in rhythm by rotating and iterating gameplay modes, making the game fun and somewhat tense without putting excessive pressure on players. The game continues to evolve.
Gan Lin:Such adjustments and active responses are also reflected in the game's operation process. Mr. Su just mentioned the Mundo inflatable at "Union Park." In front of this inflatable is a Hextech Avenue, where there are many Hextech ratings distilled by players from "OP" to "Trash." This is the active feedback from players on-site regarding the game.
In addition to actively collecting opinions and suggestions, we, as players ourselves, are also actively communicating with them to understand more demands, thereby rewarding players with high-quality content in the game. League of Legends is exactly 15 years old today. Over these dozen years, we have been committed to providing better and more interesting game content, allowing everyone to find a more reasonable balance between competition and fun. Therefore, various modes are directions we will continue to invest in and explore.
Q: Mr. Gan Lin, brands need to retain the nostalgia of old players while attracting the attention of the new era. At the 15th-anniversary milestone, what unconventional or even risky attempts has League of Legends made in terms of brand rejuvenation and cross-industry collaborations?
Gan Lin:When I heard this question, I paused for a moment—"What are the things we truly feel are risky?"
Frankly speaking, taking risks is not our norm, nor is it something we are willing to do. Because League of Legends has accumulated a lot of content after such a long period of operation, and billions of users are constantly providing us with different opinions and feedback. Everythinggj we do proceeds in the direction of "following user expectations."
We have some cross-industry and celebrity collaborations because League of Legends is indeed a very interesting and fun game. Therefore, many people, including celebrities, artists, and various KOLs, are part of our player base. For example, today we saw Wang Junkai, Zhang Boheng, Li Jiahang, and others on stage, and other celebrities have visited our events before. We have communicated with them, and they have consistently expressed their affection for League of Legends. We hope that what we do can better connect the many users represented by celebrity players. "Rejuvenation" is not something we repeatedly emphasize verbally, but rather an attitude we persist in during execution—we always extract what players truly want from their context, expressions, and expectations, and then implement it in League of Legends' own way. I believe such results are a better response to player expectations.
Today is the 15th Anniversary "Battle Night." In the future, League of Legends will have more "ultimate moves." We hope to provide better game content supply, as well as more linkages between brand, marketing, IP, esports, and community ecology, hoping to let players feel—
Beyond being fun, League of Legends is also a memory worth cherishing, a game worth looking forward to and being proud of, accompanying them through their growth and life.
Q: Mr. Gan Lin, for an IP with 15 years of mature operation, why does League of Legends still need to constantly seek new forms of expression outside of the game? What do you think is the biggest difference between the cross-industry content League of Legends is producing today and traditional brand marketing?
Gan Lin:Much of the content you refer to may not be the way we seek expression externally.
League of Legends is exactly 15 years old this year. I believe many of you recently saw a viral piece of content across various platforms: "What are the 130 million League of Legends players from back then doing now?"
This topic once sparked shared memories of League of Legends among everyone. We saw many players leave wonderful and moving real expressions on it. For many people, the 15-year-old League of Legends is no longer just a simple game; it also carries many shared life memories. Beyond the game itself, the League of Legends IP has very exciting and moving parts, such as esports, musicals, and animations. Many players once joked on social media that "Riot is a music and animation company delayed by games," believing that "Riot should make movies."
Today, we find that many daily slang terms originally gained popularity in the context of League of Legends, such as "666," "Wuhu Takeoff," "You Can Always Trust," and "YYDS." League of Legends is a platform and carrier with a good community ecosystem. These vital contents growing from the fertile soil of the community are themselves part of League of Legends.
So I believe what League of Legends is doing, and will continue to do, is to maintain our own expression.
Q: Mr. Su Panhui, League of Legends has faced a quite realistic problem in recent years: core players who have played for over a decade and new players who have only been playing for a few years with completely different gaming habits coexist in the same environment. At the 15th-anniversary milestone, what do you observe as the biggest change in player needs compared to the past 5 or 10 years? How specifically has this change affected product decision-making logic?
Su Panhui:The Chinese server of League of Legends has reached its 15th year. Many players have been playing since Season 1, while many others discovered the game later, such as after LPL's first World Championship victory or following the broadcast of Arcane: League of Legends.
Players who enter the game at different stages are indeed from different generations. Older players—like me—already have grown-up children, while there are still players who are students. Therefore, there are indeed different needs among them. These needs have commonalities but also different segments.
The commonality lies in the fact that we are a competitive game. Based on the foundation of fair competition, players generally hope to improve their skills and abilities, achieving victory through competition and cooperation in the game—this is the basic essence of League of Legends.
During this process, demands become segmented due to players' individual situations. Some players still wish to hone their skills and challenge the peaks as much as possible, pursuing ranked points and rankings; other players simply use the game as a way to relieve stress from heavy studies or work, thus preferring entertainment. League of Legends has a large user base, and these segmented demands create obvious differentiation.
For example, as many players switch between work and social roles, the time they invest in League of Legends may decrease, but their love for the game remains. As they age, their reaction speeds may decline, but their accumulation of knowledge about the game IP increases. At this point, the emergence of new content fits their needs perfectly. For instance, our solution from a few years ago, "Teamfight Tactics," is strictly speaking more like a "nostalgia server." It brought back a huge number of players, as older players felt its pace was more suitable for them.
Various gameplay modes have also been changing. "Riot Games" and Tencent are working hard to study the changes in demands. League of Legends' strategy to cope with these changes is to tirelessly invest resources in innovating, iterating, upgrading, and optimizing gameplay. This is the area with the highest resource investment because innovation requires high costs.
Old players know many of these things. The modes we universally recognize as most successful are "Summoner's Rift," "Teamfight Tactics," "ARAM," and "Arena," as well as previous modes like "Swarm" and "Ultra Rapid Fire." These are modes everyone is familiar with and that have achieved massive success. But there are also many modes whose names people can no longer remember, such as "Twisted Treeline" and "Dominion." There are over 20 such unsuccessful modes combined.
Over the years of League of Legends, there have been two sayings from the player community: one is that "League of Legends is a 'Teamfight Tactics' launcher," and the other is that "League of Legends is a 'Arena' launcher." Although these sayings are somewhat humorous, they are encouraging to our team because they are, in a sense, a huge affirmation of our work. As Mr. Gan just mentioned, players jokingly say that "Riot is a music company delayed by games," which is actually an affirmation of our content creation from another angle.
With tireless investment and continuous iteration, League of Legends has persisted for 15 years, with a new version every two weeks, a cycle that has never stopped. We continuously meet players' changing needs, uphold the foundation of fair competition, and launch various solutions for changes in different segmented demands, continuing to explore. Although we cannot reveal more details yet, you may have already heard some news—next year we will have something "big," so please stay tuned.
Q: Mr. Gan Lin, "Heroes Are Here Now" can be understood as both a summary of the 15-year journey and an expression for the future. Why did you choose this theme to kick off the 15th anniversary this year?
Gan Lin:First, the 15th anniversary is a rare milestone for any game. We adopted this slogan not only to mark this occasion but also because we understand that it is the players' affirmation, support, and passion that have given the game such vibrant vitality, allowing our team to continuously explore and create better content. Therefore, we feel that this milestone is not just League of Legends' birthday, but also a shared birthday for all League of Legends players, a moment worth celebrating together. Thus, we hope to respond to the players' love for us with this phrase.
Secondly, League of Legends has had many slogans over the past 15 years, such as "We Are the League" and "Heroes Go Beyond." These slogans expressed our attitude towards the product at different stages. At "this moment," we hope everyone can better enjoy League of Legends. We currently have "Arena," "Teamfight Tactics," and "Summoner's Rift," and there will be more content worth looking forward to in the future.
Q: Mr. Su Panhui, players now have increasingly many entertainment choices, and the game market has entered an era of fierce multi-platform and multi-genre competition. In such an era, what are the most irreplaceable core experiences of the current League of Legends PC game?
Su Panhui:As a video game, League of Legends is similar to many games in macro foundational experiences such as cooperation, competition, and replayability without boredom. However, on this basis, League of Legends has some unique areas, such as exquisite keyboard and mouse operations, which are its distinctive features.
On top of this, we have a more general statement—League of Legends remains committed to "making a fun game." This phrase has been said in the gaming industry for 30 years, but it is not a simple goal; it is very difficult to implement. It is a design philosophy formed after trade-offs among various core game designs.
To achieve the goal of "making a fun game," we strive tirelessly. In different environments, player requirements and expectations for the content they play are constantly changing. Therefore, we have adopted another strategy—"exceeding expectations."
For example, the recently popular "Arena" mode attracts players because of designs like the "Tank Engine" and stacking multiple layers of "Heartsteel." Traditional MOBA players see something different at first glance and are willing to try it. Many people's first impression of "Arena" is a giant Mundo standing in the middle lane of ARAM. This relates to current player expectations—after being accustomed to unchanging content for over a decade, players want to find something different once they are familiar with the regular content.
However, players resist content that changes too drastically. Because once people become familiar with something, they develop a certain path dependence. They hope to find gameplay that is fresh yet allows their accumulation and advantages to play a role (preferably a significant one), while also providing sufficient gaming and competitive experiences during play.
Pursuing such a gameplay process has always been the goal of League of Legends. So far, I think we have done reasonably well, and we will continue to persist in this.
Q: Mr. Su Panhui, "Arena" has received warm welcome from players again after "Swarm." What significance does this have for League of Legends, which has passed its 15th anniversary? What inspiration does it provide for future content updates?
Su Panhui:We talked a lot about "Arena" today. Indeed, this mode is currently unprecedentedly hot in League of Legends, showing no signs of decline. People play it on weekdays and weekends, almost without interruption.
For League of Legends, I believe "Arena" has built a fantastic bridge between new and old players—it satisfies old players' demand for high-intensity competitive confrontation in traditional MOBAs, while also meeting new players' desire for entertainment, connecting two groups with a generational gap in the game.
At the same time, this makes us think: how should we optimize the entry barrier created for new players by League of Legends' original emphasis on exquisite keyboard and mouse operations under its vast knowledge system.
Current players are less patient with learning new content than before because the competition in interactive entertainment services is very fierce. Most games must attract players within three to five minutes. However, League of Legends indeed requires some time to learn and master, which creates a contradiction: how can veteran players who have mastered extensive knowledge and elite players honed by tens of thousands of matches coexist harmoniously with new players.
As a competitive game, League of Legends players inevitably cooperate in competition and grow through setbacks. This is the foundation of all fair competitive games. However, balancing frustration and achievement, as well as adjusting, designing, and managing the rise in player skill levels and the game environment, is a huge challenge for League of Legends. We have been meeting these challenges and paying a high cost to solve them.
Q: Mr. Su Panhui, the "Arena" mode recently held the "Arena Championship." What was the opportunity for holding a tournament around an entertainment mode like Arena? Will there be similar tournaments in the future?
Su Panhui:The tournament we held is called the "First Arena Championship." As the name suggests, we do not intend to hold it only once. The determination to hold this tournament, or the resource investment in it, started from the player expectations and calls for "Arena." For game operations, this is a very pragmatic action because so many people play it that its segmented demands still possess a huge market.
"Arena" was initially a relaxed and casual mode, but after players invested thousands of games' worth of time and energy, they gradually grew into "experts," becoming eager to verify their strength. This is the charm of esports—even if the starting point is merely entertainment, when players become experts, a demand for more professional competitive confrontation arises, especially since many people inherently possess the talent to become experts.
We didn't hold this tournament earlier because the market demand was too small at that time, and we preferred to invest resources in other services. Now we believe the timing is right, so we held the "Arena Championship."
Judging from the results, we can proudly say it was successful. Therefore, we will definitely hold the second "Arena Championship," optimizing the bad experiences and amplifying the good ones.
From the perspective of game operations, the core value is still to serve players as well as possible through design. Even if some designs seem counter-intuitive—providing competitive tournaments for a casual mode—as long as players find it interesting, it is feasible. We also hope that through such tournaments, more players who wish to showcase their strength can get the opportunity to stand out. The "Arena Championship" is different from professional leagues; its format and starting point are both aimed at encouraging ordinary players to participate actively and find opportunities to showcase themselves.
We are also constantly thinking, for example, whether we should further sink the tournament levels, setting up provincial and regional selections to allow more people to participate, finally competing for the national championship. These are all under discussion.
Q: Mr. Gan Lin, this 15th-anniversary ceremony is held at the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center, which is also an important event for Shanghai's digital culture and sports industry. How does the team plan to leverage this anniversary ceremony to deeply bind the game IP with Shanghai's urban culture and cultural-sports tourism consumption, allowing the game to break through its entertainment attributes and become a city's digital cultural名片 (namecard)?
Gan Lin:League of Legends has a deep connection with Shanghai; the first anniversary celebration of League of Legends was held in Shanghai. Over these 15 years, we have hosted numerous esports events and marketing activities in Shanghai, and our LPL Alliance Arena is also located there. During S7, S10, and last year's S15, whenever the World Championship came to China, Shanghai was always one of the core home grounds for our LPL teams.
Additionally, the temperament of Shanghai itself makes us full of expectations for this city. We also feel that Shanghai matches the brand image League of Legends hopes to present—open, vibrant, interesting, and lively, capable of exerting a strong attraction on users. Based on these characteristics, we hope to bring our offline events and new initiatives to Shanghai, creating positive interactions and chemistry with local Summoners or those who travel specifically to watch the matches.
Based on these two points, whether from the feedback on Union Park or the performance of the arena audience, we feel that this approach is recognized and aligns with your earlier mention of "Shanghai's Digital Cultural Namecard." I think we have jointly found a suitable path here, blending the shared temperaments of both sides well. I believe there will be more good events and tournaments meeting everyone in Shanghai in the future.
Q: Mr. Su Panhui, over the past 15 years, the player base on the Chinese server has clearly diversified, with both competitive players continuously climbing the ranks and a large number of casual players who prefer entertainment modes and return occasionally. From a long-term operational perspective, how will the product team balance the needs of different player segments to achieve better synergy between the product, esports, and the community?
Su Panhui:League of Legends is no longer just a single game. Considering the vast player base, we provide diverse services. To date, this includes League of Legends, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Battle of Golden Spatula, and Teamfight Tactics, among other projects. Different games and modes are all providing services.
The product philosophy we uphold is actually a very traditional theory: a large market generates niche markets, and League of Legends provides better services for players in these niche markets. From another perspective, each of these niche markets is huge—the MOBA market, the auto-battler market, etc.—and we have a large audience in each of these sectors.
On this basis, we provide services to players through a matrix of services and products. This includes "Summoner's Rift" based on fair competition, "Ranked Summoner's Rift" for those with competitive aspirations, "Teamfight Tactics" emphasizing strategic depth, the casual "Ultra Rapid Fire" mode, and the current "Hexcore ARAM." These are all part of the continuous service content League of Legends strives to provide.
For different modes, we consider the method of service delivery based on their specific characteristics. For example, "Ultra Rapid Fire" is not a mode suitable for long-term continuous play; we need to balance the mode's traits with the health of the player experience. We have previously disclosed that playing "Ultra Rapid Fire" continuously might affect the overall pacing of player engagement, so we adopt a rotation system to keep players fresh while ensuring a better long-term experience. "Hexcore ARAM" and "Teamfight Tactics" are projects that can provide stable, continuous service, with "Teamfight Tactics" even featuring distinct seasons.
This also reflects that static operations and services are unsustainable. If the overall product and service offerings do not continuously iterate and evolve over time, players will churn and grow weary.
Although "Summoner's Rift" has been around for 15 years, many players recently realized in the newly launched classic mode that they struggle to adapt to the pace of the legacy server. Because League of Legends from Season 3 and the current version are almost two completely different games, current players find it difficult to adapt to the legacy server, which is a realistic issue we must face. We will not ignore the reality of player maladaptation and will attempt to find optimization solutions.
Currently, we are doing our utmost to cater to the needs of different players according to the services we can provide. At least for now, players can still satisfy their respective needs by choosing different modes. We will continue to explore ways to balance the needs of new and old players, optimizing MOBA game services while accommodating diverse demands. This is the direction we are actively exploring.
Overall, our current operational strategy is to treat League of Legends as a platform running four or five different services simultaneously, which is the state of the current version. This status will continue in the future, with ongoing upgrades and optimizations based on the existing foundation.
We recognize that players have diverse needs, which we as service providers must adapt to. We cannot arrogantly assume that if players don't fit our mold, they shouldn't join. Instead, we must find ways to meet everyone's needs, considering how to keep players curious, competitively active, and positively engaged within the game.
Q: Mr. Gan Lin, League of Legends can be considered a benchmark for "game brand operation." Do you think this brand model, centered on esports, content, IP, and offline scenarios, is a success unique to League of Legends? Or can it be replicated by new-generation products?
Gan Lin:Thank you for using the complimentary term "benchmark," though it is certainly a word that carries pressure. First, League of Legends itself is a fun and interesting product. As a MOBA game, it meets players' needs for competition and growth on the foundation of fair play.
At the same time, it has a strong IP foundation, which is not easily imitated. Because beyond excellent esports, League of Legends also boasts outstanding music, animation, and a fertile ground for content growth. In addition to high-quality content itself, the exciting competitive gameplay and social content contributed by players within the content ecosystem extend the game into a lifestyle for many. These aspects provide excellent leverage for our marketing and brand work, allowing us to better coordinate with publishing efforts, stay aligned with player context and expectations, and continuously create high-quality content in response to players.
For us, the continuing challenge in the future lies in how to keep players anticipating our offerings and how to better meet those expectations. This is the overall goal we aim to advance.
Q: Mr. Su Panhui, over the past 15 years, player experience demands have continuously evolved, ranging from competitive gameplay to content and offline events. What core mechanisms has the CN server relied on in terms of product and ecosystem operations to sustain long-term vitality?
Su Panhui:League of Legends began building its community even before its official launch. Many ideas from community players were incorporated into the game, with the most famous being the "ARAM" gameplay mode.
Since it's a competitive game, the players are mostly passionate young people who often engage in intense "mid-lane father-son showdowns." From this trend, the prototype for mid-lane brawls gradually emerged, eventually evolving into what we now know as "ARAM" (All Random All Mid). After years of version updates, we arrived at the highly successful "Hexcore ARAM" we see today. This is a typical process: players generate effective ideas within the community, these ideas are transformed into product features, and then scaled through operations.
What is the overall ecosystem mechanism of League of Legends? The game is the foundation, but the players are the core component. Players are people, and the services provided by League of Legends are organized and built around human interactive entertainment needs. Beyond the game itself, we offer many out-of-game services that allow players to discuss the game. These services are not necessarily provided directly by us; some are operated by us, while others are provided through mechanisms that organize ecosystem construction.
Take League of Legends esports, for example. We know that LoL esports prize pools are not the highest. In fact, prize money constitutes only a small portion of League of Legends' investment in tournaments and esports. So where does the rest of the investment go? It goes into building the foundational infrastructure of the ecosystem, which is a significant expense. We invest heavily in infrastructure to ensure the entire ecosystem operates scientifically, orderly, and positively. This is why we can now witness so many exciting League of Legends matches.
In addition, community services and IP extension content services follow the same logic.
In the early stages of promoting the game, our approach was similar to traditional game marketing. When we first launched open beta, game media websites played a crucial role in the initial promotion of League of Legends. We collaborated with media outlets to build communities, which influenced players to download the game and provide positive feedback. We then incorporated feedback from both media and players to build and optimize the game—this was our initial path. More players also acquired game-related knowledge from the community, most commonly through guides, but also through interesting content like the League of Legends Daily, the Gwen shorts I often watch now, and many similar pieces. What impressed me most was an early series called "Lalala Demacia," which would be considered a short-form drama by today's standards.
This content encourages players to actively express their support for the game while also spreading and promoting it. Some content creators have even earned income from this. I recall an author who wrote guides for "Teamfight Tactics"; he produced much high-quality content. I recommended him to the community team, and he received support, eventually growing into a substantial self-media entity. These cases demonstrate that beyond game versions and seasons, players engage with and utilize League of Legends' ecosystem services in other areas as well.
In recent years, there have been some significant investments, the largest being the animated series "Arcane: League of Legends," which won the global award for best animation. Achieving the highest honor in a subsidiary field is no small feat for us.
These investments have formed a vast matrix of ecosystem services, covering a large number of League of Legends players—many of whom have been with the game for over a decade. Even though some may have left the game, we firmly believe that consistent service provision will lead some of them to choose League of Legends again in the future, whether it be the game itself or a specific ecosystem service. In fact, many League of Legends players primarily watch esports; when League of Legends: Wild Rift was launched, they moved to the mobile version, and when Battle of Golden Spatula was introduced, a large number of players joined as well. We believe that when the next generation of League of Legends products or other titles are released, many players will continue to choose the League of Legends brand.
We believe we have established a deep bond with this generation of players. This bond is formed by the intertwining history of League of Legends' growth and the players' own personal growth, creating a tight and inseparable shared memory. For many, this spans over a decade—a precious and indelible memory that we deeply cherish.
During the anniversary offline event, I saw a mother pushing a stroller into the venue. At that moment, I thought that perhaps ten years ago, she was a student playing League of Legends. I am gratified to see that players like her continue to choose us. We hope to continue providing high-quality services in the future so that players keep choosing League of Legends. This is the original intention behind our continued service provision and active efforts in ecosystem infrastructure development.
Q: Mr. Su Panhui, "The 'Song of the Heart' charity event this year further highlights the charitable acts corresponding to player behavior. Does this shift in form mean, in your view, that the relationship between the game, players, and charity has been redefined?
Su Panhui:Why do we engage in charity? The underlying motivation is very simple—we and our players both want to do something positive. We believe that positive energy inspires people to be upward-looking. We aim to create an "evergreen game," and true longevity comes from having a continuous, vibrant source of motivation for life, which I interpret as a form of positive energy.
We started engaging in charity-related activities over a decade ago; it's been so long that I can't quite recall exactly how many years. Every time we launch a charity initiative, we receive very positive feedback from players and the community. Sometimes we visit the sites where these charitable activities take place, and there we truly feel the positive energy brought by these efforts.
I was particularly impressed by a player with disabilities in both hands who reached the Challenger tier, which I deeply admire. Seeing a player pursue their passion so actively and achieve such heights is truly moving. We believe this sense of inspiration and positive energy is a key driving force that motivates us to continue doing what we do.
There was another instance involving strong interaction with players. I remember one year we sponsored many children. To thank the players or the official team who supported them, these kids drew many champion characters and mailed them to me. Since drawing was the only way they could express their gratitude, they asked their teachers for advice. The teachers told them that since we make games, even if the kids didn't play themselves, they could look up what the game looked like online and choose some characters to draw. Many projects receive similar letters from readers; the situation is largely the same.
Later, we reflected that it wasn't meaningful for only us to receive these drawings and feel moved; the ones truly doing the charity were the players. So, we updated these drawings onto the champion loading screens, which received positive feedback at the time. This allowed players to truly feel that they were participating in charity and receiving goodwill in return from those they helped. We felt this was something within our power to do, beneficial to the entire game and service ecosystem. The foundation of pursuing longevity is an tireless passion for life, driven by positive energy, so we will continue to promote such initiatives every year.
This year's "Song of the Heart" initiative came about because we felt that relying solely on our own capabilities was insufficient; we hoped to collaborate with third-party forces possessing greater social influence. Therefore, this year we chose to partner with G.E.M., a highly influential singer. We selected G.E.M. because her growth journey shares similarities with a champion in the game—rising from an ordinary person to an influential artist and star. We felt she fit this role well, hoping her journey would inspire players to face their future lives with a positive mindset. Thus, whether it's "Song of the Heart" or various past charity initiatives, we believe that as long as League of Legends remains in operation, our commitment to charity will continue.
