Video game boosting is when somebody pays a more skilled player to either play on their game account to improve their rank and/or obtain particular in-game items. In team-based games, a highly skilled player may accompany a lesser skilled group to ensure better advancement of the team. Boosting services are becoming increasingly popular despite it violating the terms of service of many game developers. As of December 2018, in South Korea, providing boosting in competitive video games is illegal and punishable by a fine or 2 years in prison.
Despite the potential consequences which usually will involve the suspension or permanent closure of accounts boosting is thriving. It is estimated that League of Legends, Overwatch and Dota2 have around 600,000 accounts between them that use boosting services. Specific numbers as to how many players use boosting services for different games aren’t readily available. However, we have created a list of some of the most commonly boosted video games in 2022.
Frequently boosted video games
By looking at a large number of professional video game boosting businesses and the services they offer we have put together a list of those games that players most frequently buy boosts for in no particular order.
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is an MMORPG that was released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. They set the standard for MMORPGs and while it has had some significant changes and events over the years World of Warcraft remains extremely popular with a dedicated fan base of around 4.8 million subscribers. It can take a lot of hours of grinding to increase player rank which is one of the reasons boosting services are popular in the game. World of Warcraft boosts includes WoW Classic, WoW Burning Crusades and the latest expansion World of Warcraft Shadowlands.
League of Legends
League of Legends or LoL is a multiplayer online arena battle arena (MOBA) game developed by Riot Games and released in 2009. In the game’s main mode, Summoner’s Rift, two teams of 5 players each compete against each other to destroy the opposing team’s “Nexus”. There are 160 champions with different abilities players can choose from. LoL is hugely popular with around 125 million monthly players.
Valorant
Valorant is a first-person shooter that was released in 2020. It was developed by Riot Games which also created League of Legends. Two teams consisting of 5 players each compete against each other with players gaining rank based on their performance. An average of 12 million people played Valorant monthly in 2021 and that number has increased in 2022. It can be tough to gain rank in Valorant and new players have to play 10 Unrated games and 5 ranked placements to determine their starting rank.
Apex Legends
Apex Legends is a free-to-play battle royale-hero shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released in 2019 and currently has over 125 million registered players with over 1 million active players every day. There are 2 gameplay modes; Battle Royale where 20 3-person squads or 30 2-person squads compete against each other to be the last survivor, and Arenas where two 3-person squads fight it out in a series of rounds. It has a popular ranked mode which has recently been changed.
Destiny 2
Originally released as a pay-to-play game in 2017, Destiny 2 is a multiplayer first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and became free-to-play in 2019. There are an estimated 38 million Destiny 2 players with over 700,000 active players daily. Destiny 2 incorporates elements of both role-playing and MMO games and there are both player versus environment and player versus player activities. There are three-character classes; Hunters, Warlocks and Titans and each has its own specialities and perks. Each character class has 3 sub-classes so players can customise their specific character.
Benefits of boosting services to players
Players make use of boosting service for a variety of reasons with different players having different motives for participating in video game boosting. The following are a few of the ways a video game boost can be useful to players.
Save time
Some games, such as Warcraft Classic may require hours of repetitive grinding to gain higher ranks. Players with full-time jobs and family responsibilities often aren’t able to dedicate the necessary time needed to achieve higher rankings. As the best features of many games aren’t available until reaching a certain level, a game boost allows players who don’t have the necessary time to enjoy the best parts of the game.
Maintain rank/level
Some video games have a ranking decay system to encourage players to log in and play on a regular basis. If you don’t play over a specific period your rank starts to deteriorate. A large number of players have full-time jobs and families that take priority over gaming. Rather than lose rank they can use a boosting service occasionally to maintain what they have already achieved.
Play with friends
Playing team video games with friends can be a lot of fun. However, if all of your friends are ranked much higher than you, some games won’t allow you to team up with them. A boosting service can get you to a rank equivalent to your friends so you can enjoy playing with them.
Get past a particularly hard spot
Maybe there is a particular boss or level that you just can’t seem to defeat or get past no matter how many times you try. A game boost can get a player past a particularly rough spot and let them get on with enjoying the game.
Acquire special items and gear
Certain items can really improve your character but you may not have had any luck in getting the right item to drop. A game boost can assist with getting that special weapon you so desire.
Improve your skills
Playing with and observing a professional booster can help with improving your own skills and most are happy to give tips and advice to help you up your game.
While there are those who just want the ego boost that comes from a high rank, there are many players who use boosting services just to get more enjoyment out of their favourite game.
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