“League of Legends,” the undisputed king in South Korea’s gaming industry, was dealt a major blow after a series of server problems in the past few days.

According to game data provider Gametrics, the “League of Legends” Internet cafe share was 21.3 percent last week, a 15 percent drop from the week before.

The game, however, retained a comfortable lead over its rivals. Runner-up “Sudden Attack,” for instance, had a 10 percent share.

The Internet cafe share refers to the percentage of a certain game being played at such Internet cafes across the country. Because most Korean gamers play computer games in PC rooms, the measurement is widely used as an indicator of games’ popularity.

“League of Legends,” developed and published by U.S.-based Riot Games, became a major target of criticism from frustrated users, who were hindered from playing the game due to prolonged server maintenance. The maintenance period, initially expected to end early Friday, was extended several times and eventually ended Tuesday morning.

Angry users posted a large number of complaints on Twitter and blogs as the “League of Legends” game server remained inactive for 13 hours on Monday.

Since its launch in January 2012, “League of Legends” has enjoyed massive popularity in Korea. The game’s market share based on Internet cafe usage hit a record 42 percent on May 11.



From news reports
(khnews@heraldcorp.com)