League of Legends went free-to-play and sold only cosmetics, never power

Most online games in 2009 charged a box price, a subscription, or both — and pay-to-win shops that sold power were spreading. Riot Games was building League of Legends, a competitive team game where balance was everything, and its founders believed the business model had to match the game.

In July 2009 Riot announced the game would be free when it launched in September. Players would earn Influence Points through play, while a paid currency, Riot Points, bought champion skins and customization. The company was explicit: 'As a competitive game, it is extremely important for us to not sell power to players and we don't want to fragment the community into paying and non-paying players.'

The zero entry price maximized the player network; the cosmetics-only shop monetized it. Academic research on the model found players buy non-functional items for hedonic, social and identity reasons — some buy simply to transfer money to the developer they love. Riot turned a game into a service with a community large enough that cosmetics alone could pay the bills.