South Korean government has officially blamed Riot Games for the country's worsening demographic crisis. Citing League of Legends addiction as a primary factor behind declining birth rates, officials argue that the massively popular game has fundamentally altered the country’s social landscape, discouraging relationships and family formation.
How grave is this situation? Imagine a population size of 200, half men and half women. Assuming 70 percent of the women give birth to one child over the course of their lifetime, the population would add 70 children. If half of those (35) are women, and 70 percent of those women had one child, the number of new births would shrink to around 25 in the next generation. That is a whopping 88 percent decrease (from 200 to 25) in just two generations.
A government-backed study, ‘The Solo Queue Effect: How Gaming Culture is Fueling Korea’s Population Decline’, found that South Korean men aged 18-30 spend an average of 40 hours per week playing League of Legends, leading to a sharp decline in dating, marriage, and childbirth rates. The research suggests that the highly competitive nature of the game, combined with its addictive design, has turned potential parents into full-time gamers.