League of Legends card game Legends of Runeterra (LoR) is currently more popular than rival card game Hearthstone in the UK iOS charts.
In the top free card game chart in the UK, Legends of Runeterra is currently 88th and Hearthstone is 92nd, at the time of writing (November 26th 2021).
The change was pointed out by Reddit user Purpleworrior in the Legends of Runeterra subreddit. They said: “For the first time today I have noticed that LoR has overtaken Hearthstone in the UK iOS app store charts. In the card game category, yesterday Hearthstone was 73 and LoR was 74. Today LoR is 73 and Hearthstone is 96. I assume this is something to do with the success of Arcane.”
On the Android Google Play app list in Great Britain, however, Hearthstone is currently two places above Legends of Runeterra, near the bottom of the list of card apps.
Hearthstone is Blizzard Entertainment’s long-running digital card game – first launched in March 2014 – which is based on its well-known World of Warcraft franchise. Blizzard is owned by Activision Blizzard, which has been embroiled in a series of harassment scandals and controversies this year.
Elsewhere, looking at Riot Games’ other app store titles, League of Legends mobile game Wild Rift is currently 28th and auto battler TFT is 73rd in the strategy game iOS chart, with Clash Royale sitting at the No.1 spot.
Apple and Google haven’t said how they calculate search rankings, however it’s believed that the app stores track several metrics including review ratings, number of downloads and uninstalls, usage stats and more.
Riot Games and League of Legends have enjoyed a resurgence over the past few months, with a string of announcements and developments.
Arcane, the League of Legends animated series, launched on Netflix earlier this month, bringing the League of Legends universe to new audiences, and Riot had a major marketing push for the series, with LoL Jinx crossovers in Fortnite, Arcane storefronts in London and around the world, and more.
Riot also launched new standalone turn-based RPG title Ruined King: A League of Legends Story on PS4, PS5, Xbox One/Series X/S, Switch and PC, as well as announcing new titles Song of Nunu and Convergence, and providing an update on its ‘Project L’ League of Legends fighting game. It’s also working on a League of Legends MMO.
Legends of Runeterra launched on PC and mobile devices back in April 2020. We first interviewed LoR game designer Steve Rubin about the title back in October 2019.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
