League of Legends needs no introduction. After DOTA, this was perhaps the game that defined the MOBA genre.
Introducing a new gaming genre and then flourishing in it is no easy feat, hence the fact, it is one of the most-played games of all time [1].
While PC gamers have been relishing their glory in League of Legends, console players haven’t been so lucky. As such, many with the newer PlayStation console ask “Can you play League of Legends on PS5?”
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is a no and it does not seem that Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends, has any plan of porting the game onto a console anytime soon.
As of yet, League of Legends is ONLY supported on computers working on Windows, and MacOS.
Let me dive a bit deeper into this question:
A Glimpse Into League of Legends
League of Legends, developed by Riot Games, is one of the Pioneers of the MOBA gaming genre. It was launched in 2009 and still holds reverence in the gaming community.
The game is a top-down game where players form two teams of uniquely powerful characters known as champions.
The objective of the game is to destroy the base of the opposing team. In order to do so, the players have to progress their champions and their unique set of abilities.
This is done through gaining experience and gold by killing enemies.
The genre was first released in the form of DOTA – which was a spinoff mod of the Blizzard’s Starcraft and Warcraft games.
The Keyboard and Mouse Conundrum
Due to the top-down perspective of the gameplay, the gameplay of League of Legends is fundamentally built with a keyboard and mouse in mind.
This is because, in top-down perspective games, the mouse and keyboard tend to provide the most precision and allow for the quickest reflexes.
The mouse for instance is used to select the champion, to select a location to move to, and to target an enemy.
Controlling all of this with a controller would be supremely difficult.
Hence the fact that League of Legends is designed primarily for the PC environment.
So Can You Play League of Legends on PS5?
The answer to this question is unfortunately no. League of Legends is NOT available on PS5.
Riot Games HAS NOT released the game on any of the consoles as of yet.
Also given the fact it was released in 2009 during the PS3 generation and RIOT games did not bother porting it to PS3 or PS4 over more than a decade of time span means that they have no interest in porting it to PS5 ever or anytime soon.
PS5 DOES Support Keyboard and Mouse So Why no LoL?
Many gamers may argue the point that PS5 does support a keyboard and mouse.
Whether they are enabled for gameplay or not depends upon the developer, but one may argue that Riot Games can utilize this feature for the release of LoL on PS5.
After all, a controller is simply not suitable for a MOBA like LoL.
Unfortunately, again, the fact that a keyboard and a mouse DO NOT come packaged with a PS5 means that many console gamers will not put in the extra money to procure these peripherals by themselves, that too, just to play LoL.
Catering to only a fraction of the gamers on PS5 who WOULD actually put in the effort of acquiring the two peripheral devices means that due to the pure economics of it all, Riot Games may never be interested in porting it to a console.
LoL: Wild Rift Will Come to Consoles
While the original League of Legends will probably never port over to consoles, Riot Games surprised fans in 2020 with the announcement of League of Legends: Wild Rift is a redesigned version of the original LoL game specifically made for mobile platforms (i.e. Android and iOS).
The game retains the core MOBA gameplay but is optimized for different control schemes, including touch screens and potentially gamepad controls.
As of now, Wild Rift has launched on iOS and Android platforms, but there is a clear indication on the official website of the game that it will be “coming soon to consoles”
MOBA Games on PS5 You CAN Play
If you wish to play a game based on the MOBA genre on PS5, you can try other gamers.
The most popular of these is SMITE. This is yet another very popular Free-to-Play MOBA game.
However, unlike League of Legends, instead of being a top-down MOBA game, this is a third-person MOBA game making the game suitable to play on a controller.
Final Words
The answer to the question “Can you Play League of Legends on PS5?” is a resounding NO EVEN if you own a keyboard and a mouse for PS5.
Fortunately, while there are no plans for the original LoL to release on consoles anytime soon, Riot Games has revealed that the League of Legends: Wild Rift will be coming soon to consoles.
