With more than 100 student organizations to get involved with on campus, there is one in particular that has stood out in recent months for fast participation and admirable popularity.

League of Legends is a free online multiplayer strategy game that premiered in late October 2009. Six years have passed and it has soared to record proportions, becoming the number one videogame in the world. As an average of 30 million people play each day from around the globe, gaming communities are currently looking to keep up with the growing success, Creighton being no exception.

Noah Peetz, a College of Business senior and the president of the newly created League of Legends Club, said February’s formation of his club on Creighton’s campus came at the perfect time.

“This club fits a lot of needs that Creighton didn’t provide at the time,” Peetz said. “This club targets a niche community on campus that finally allows gamers to come together and build a community of friendship all while having fun.”

The game is formatted as a strategy game where two teams of five face off in combat against one another. Each person picks a representative “champion” for his or her team in a variety of game-play modes. The teams work together in battle to win objectives and ultimately beat the other team.

With so many ways to strategize and the various collaboration combinations, the game took off worldwide in popularity. The multiplayer action game company holds annual world tournaments where professional teams perform in front of sell-out crowds at venues like the Staples Center in Los Angeles and Madison Square Garden in New York. They stream the tournaments online with tens of millions of spectators worldwide. ESPN even plans on exploring broadcasting options down the road.

“The game in some ways is very similar to traditional sports with a great degree of competiveness, team building and strategizing,” Peetz said. “It’s a good outlet that allows anyone to play and get better at it.”

The game has a worldwide ranking system that ranks everyone who plays the game. Peetz is currently ranked in the top 1 percent of the world and plans to use his achievement and knowledge to help members.

“A lot of people have come to me to help them get better,” Peetz said. “A lot of communication takes place in the club with all our members, which really helps improvement.”

This past year, the League of Legends club won the “Best New Club” award by the Creighton Students Union, and the first meeting alone had more than 40 people show up. The club currently boasts more than 60 members that actively participate. Peetz says that despite the growing popularity, it will remain a place to build friendships.

“Every student wants to leave the school better than when they found it,” Peetz said. “The game is more fun when you know people who play and the past few months have been great. We are excited for what this year can bring.”