The League of Legends pre-season begins today, which means the game is now officially available for everyone to play. League of Legends will be operated in seasons, which is why Riot Games feels it makes sense to have a pre-season period so players can learn the game and build relationships. The team announced last month that the first season will begin in the first half of 2010.

The celebrate the launch, Riot Games is temporarily unlocking all Champions. According to the announcement, "players will be able to choose their favorite Champions and accumulate experience and Influence Points. In several weeks we will finish the celebration by opening the store and allowing you to spend the points that you’ve earned to permanently unlock your favorite Champions and Runes!"

A brief FAQ for players who pre-ordered or purchased the game can be found after the jump. For more information on League of Legends, check out our recent preview of the game and our interview with Riot Games President Marc Merrill at the Penny Arcade Expo.

Riot Games has revealed its newest map for League of Legends, which will officially be added to the closed beta tomorrow, Oct. 20. Twisted Treeline is best suited for 3v3 action with its layout of two lanes and two forests. You can view screenshots of the map in our gallery and read the full profile for the map after the jump.

The pre-season for League of Legends will begin on Oct. 27, which is when the game will become available in retail stores and fully open online. The game will be operated in seasons, which is why the team feels it makes sense to have a pre-season period so players can learn the game and build relationships. The first season will begin in the first half of 2010.

Riot Games announced today that the pre-season for League of Legends will begin on Oct. 27, which is when the game will become available in retail stores and fully open online. The game will be operated in seasons, which is why the team feels it makes sense to have a pre-season period so players can learn the game and build relationships. The first season will begin in the first half of 2010 and will "include clans, teams, tournaments, ranked play and ladders, draft mode, as well as additional content such as new Champions and maps."

League of Legends is currently in closed beta, although a short open beta will be held before the pre-season begins. If you'd like to participate in the closed beta, we're still giving away keys! Just head over to this page to claim your key. More information on the pre-season can be found in the FAQ after the jump.

ZAM Network is proud to announce that our second large scale League of Legends Beta Giveaway is now open to all our users. Click here to check out our beta giveaway page and get your key.

If you're unfamiliar with the game, League of Legends is a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game similar to the popular Warcraft III mod, Defense of the Ancients (DotA). It's also a game that we've been watching closely because of its fun, session based, competitive gameplay that keeps players engaged via rich community features and persistent MMORPG elements.

Before our big Riot Games vs. Team ZAM match at PAX this year (which we regrettably lost), we ambushed Marc Merrill, President of Riot to get some insight about what the team has planned up until launch and beyond. If you haven't been able to try League of Legends yet, stay tuned -- we're going to be giving away over 20,000 beta keys sometime this week.

ZAM: League of Legends is doing great here; you have a lot of people playing the game and all of them are having fun. What kind of feedback have you guys had so far?

Marc Merrill: We've had some great feedback. Not only from guys who have been in the beta, that have been playing for a long time, coming by, wanting to meet the developers. Other players that have played DotA, but not necessarily have heard of League of Legends have had a great reaction as well. And then a lot of people that have never experienced the MOBA genre have shown up and had a great time as well. There are a couple guys playing right now, in fact, who are having a really great time. It's really exciting for us; it's been in positivity all around.

ZAM: I've been in the beta for a while, so a lot of the stuff that you guys have in right now, we already know about. We want to know about the new stuff, I want to know about the stuff that's going to go in that hasn't necessarily happened. Most notably, new maps, new champions or other juicy nuggets of information you can tell us about.

Riot Games, the developer behind League of Legends, announced this week it has received $8 million in funding from Tencent, Benchmark Capital and FirstMark Capital. The investment was led by Tencent, a Chinese online services company that serves more than 400 million users. Riot Games and Tencent previously announced a distribution partnernship to bring League of Legends to China.

According to the LA Times, this funding brings Riot Games' total financing to nearly $20 million. League of Legends is set to launch in North America on Oct. 3. You can read the full announcement after the jump.

Every now and then there are games that come along in the industry that, by simply existing, manage to completely stretch, shake and re-define their genre. In this regard, there are games, like Metal Gear, that start as the launch point of an entirely new genre (stealth action shooters) or there are games, like Counter-Strike or World of Warcraft, that pack together many pre-existing ideas, but also manage to elevate and polish these concepts into something altogether remarkable.

Of course, there are many developers who try to create some of these afore-mentioned diamonds; churning away to make games that imitate and evolve a pre-existing concept that has experienced success, all the while adding their own ideas, to give a unique twist to their creations. In very rare cases, these 'spiritual successors' achieve something, but more often than not, these games fail to meet the standards set by their predecessors. Perhaps it was this fear of failure that has kept many developers from capitalizing upon the incredible success of the Warcraft III mod, Defence of the Ancients (DotA). But now, six years after DotA's initial creation, Riot Games' League of Legends has decided that the time is ripe for this underdeveloped genre to finally flex its wings and fly.

And boy does this game soar.

Earlier today ZAM was officially challenged by Riot Games to a single game of League of Legends that will take place tomorrow on the show floor of PAX (Penny Arcade Expo). We've confidently accepted and the trash talking has already begun. What's more, we've made it interesting with a bet. If ZAM wins, members of the opposing team have to wear ZAM Network shirts at their next event, if we lose, we have to wear free League of Legends shirts. That's what I call a favorable wager.

We definitely have a challenge in front of us. Riot Games is matching us against their best players: Jeff Jew, Marc Merrill, Steve Snow, Logan Margulies and Travis George. Unfortunately for them, we have a secret weapon that we'll be unveiling tomorrow.

If you're fortunate enough to have tickets, join us at the Riot Games booth Saturday at 5:00 PM PST to witness a battle of the Ages. Team ZAM vs. Riot Games.

The Penny Arcade Expo kicks off tomorrow to begin a weekend full of gaming, and members of the ZAM staff are currently on their way to Seattle to bring you exclusive coverage of the festival. In case you're unfamiliar with PAX, the event was created by Penny Arcade's Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik to focus on tabletop, console and PC games. The first PAX was held in 2004 and has exponentially grown in popularity. In fact, this year's convention has already sold out.

That's where we come in. If you're not able to attend PAX, then we want to bring PAX to you. You can check out all of our news from the floor on our PAX news page, which is also accessible via a banner on ZAM.com. To be honest, our schedule is packed. We'll provide you with news on Aion, EVE Online, Global Agenda, Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited, Star Trek Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Warhammer Online, League of Legends and more. MMOs certainly have a strong presence at the festival, so keep an eye on our coverage for updates from our team in Seattle.

Our readers on the East Coast may be happy to hear that PAX East will be held in Boston from March 26-28, 2010, marking the first time the Penny Arcade Expo will be held outside of Washington. While it's exciting to have another PAX to look forward to, we're completely focused on this weekend.

It looks like League of Legends fans who plan on attending the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) will definitely have something to look forward to, as Riot Games, developer of League of Legends, has announced that they will be at PAX with a playable copy of their game for all of the general public to try. In addition to this, Riot Games is also providing the first 20,000 PAX attendees with a special in-game redeemable code that allows them access to a limited edition champion skin designed by Penny Arcade (pictured right). Finally, all attendees who visit the Riot Games booth or play their demo will also receive a beta key to play in the League of Legends closed beta. If you find that you just can't attend PAX, but you really want to pick up a beta key, remember that Riot Games is giving away 50 beta keys every Friday via Facebook for anyone who becomes a fan of League of Legends. Barring that, you can also purchase the League of Legends Digital Collector's Pack via their website and receive instant Beta access in addition to a plethora of awesome stuff.

Marc Merrill, Co-Founder and President of Riot Games notes that "Riot has deep roots in the game and mod community, and fan feedback has influenced every aspect of League of Legends development. As an event devoted to celebrating the fans and culture of games, PAX is the perfect place for us to give to many players their first hands-on experience with League of Legends and we look forward to having a ton of fun with the gamers who make the pilgrimage up to Seattle."