League of Legends is finding unlikely success with an unconventional business model. By focusing on player experience instead of revenue maximization, Riot Games (the company that makes League of Legends) boasts round 67 million active monthly players, and may actually top $1 billion in revenue this year.

“It was always disappointing when development teams would rush in to build the next game and neglect communities that were staying engaged with their game well after it launched,” Riot Games co-founder Brandon Beck told the New York Times. “We wanted a company that paid attention to players like us who wanted to play competitively and cooperatively.”

One of the ways Riot Games pays attention to its players is by hosting massive League of Legends tournaments where gamers can watch teams compete live for a million dollar prize.  Since League of Legends functions like what Business Insider calls “a more complicated video game version of capture the flag,” the competition can be fierce. At a 2013 tournament, thousands gathered at the Staples Center in Los Angeles to watch, while while millions viewed online.

According to the Times, these tournaments actually lose money. Riot Games sees them more as a way to inspire loyalty among its fan base.

“Whenever I talk to executives at Riot, it’s like a mantra: ‘Revenue is second, the player experience is first,’ ” Joost van Dreunen, chief executive of SuperData told the Times. “The paradox is that by putting revenue second, League will be one of the very few games to bring in $1 billion in 2014.”