League of Legends is owned by Tencent (China, HKEX: 0700), which acquired the brand on 16 December 2015.[1] League of Legends was founded in 2009 in the United States and was independent until 2015.
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: Tencent Holdings Limited - annual report and investments. Last checked .
League of Legends is free to play and funded by cosmetic sales, and its world championship fills arenas and draws viewing figures comparable to major traditional sports finals. It has been among the most played PC games for over a decade.
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
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See the full Tencent brand portfolio (5) →
Tencent controls 5 brands on Brandtree, 5 of them in internet & digital.
The 69 brands in video games on Brandtree belong to 18 owners. The largest is Take-Two, with 7; Tencent has 4.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Fantasy Westward Journey | NetEase | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong |
| 2K | Take-Two | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Apex Legends | EA | 🇺🇸 United States |
| eFootball | Konami | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Bingo Blitz | Playtika | 🇮🇱 Israel |
| Mega Man | Capcom | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Animal Crossing | Nintendo | 🇯🇵 Japan |
| Football Manager | Sega Sammy | 🇯🇵 Japan |
Tencent is a publicly listed company headquartered in Shenzhen, China, founded in 1998. Brandtree records 5 brands under its control, and it is listed as HKEX: 0700.
Tencent is the largest video game company in the world by revenue, and it owns studios far better known than it is. It also runs WeChat, which combines messaging, payments and services in a way that has no Western equivalent and is close to unavoidable in daily Chinese life.
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States. 478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, League of Legends among them.
Tencent took full ownership of Riot Games, having bought a majority in 2011. It means League of Legends, among the most played PC games in the world for over a decade, and the Los Angeles studio that makes it have been Chinese-owned since. The price was not disclosed.
The parent company of League of Legends is Tencent, a publicly listed company headquartered in China.
League of Legends originated in the United States in 2009, but it is owned today by Tencent, which is headquartered in China. So League of Legends is an American-origin brand under Chinese ownership.
Tencent completed its acquisition of League of Legends on 16 December 2015, after announcing the deal on 16 December 2015. The price was not disclosed.
League of Legends was an independent company from its founding in 2009 until Tencent acquired it in 2015.
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, League of Legends is still owned by Tencent. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
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