Royal Never Give Up (RNG) is a Chinese esports team. It started as a professional League of Legends team called Royal Club, which played in the League of Legends Pro League (LPL), the highest level of competition for the game in China. From 2014 to 2015, the team was named Star Horn Royal Club to match its sponsor. After 2015, the team changed its name to Royal Never Give Up, and the Royal Club name was used for the organization’s new academy team.
RNG’s League of Legends team ended its activities after the 2025 season. Over 10 years, the team won three international competitions (2018, 2021, and 2022 Mid-Season Invitationals) and three domestic competitions (2016 LPL spring, 2018 LPL spring and summer, 2021 and 2022 LPL spring).
The organization also had a Dota 2 team that played in The International 2019 and a top-level Overwatch team named the Chengdu Hunters.
League of Legends
Royal Club began the year by joining the G-League 2012 Season 2. They finished in 3rd to 4th place after losing to Team WE 1–4. Later, they took part in the GIGABYTE StarsWar League/Season 2 in March but were eliminated in the group stage. In June, Royal Club placed 5th in the 2013 LPL Spring. They had a 15–13 record in the group stage and did not qualify for the playoffs. The next day, they competed in the NVIDIA Game Festival 2013 and placed second after losing to Team WE in the finals. In July, Royal HZ joined the StarsWar 8 tournament but were knocked out in the semifinals, losing 0–2 to iG. Later that month, they again lost 0–2 to iG in the semifinals of IEM Season VIII – Shanghai and finished 3rd to 4th. In September, Royal HZ qualified for the Season 3 China Regional Finals after finishing second in the 2013 LPL Summer/Regular Season with a 13–8 record. In the Season 3 China Regional Finals, Royal HZ made a strong comeback, defeating OMG in the Grand Finals after starting in the Loser’s bracket. They won first place, earned a spot in the Season 3 World Championship, and advanced directly to the quarterfinals.
At the S3 Championship, Royal Club was an unexpected team in the quarterfinals because they were not well known outside Asia. It was their first major tournament in North America. Their first match was against OMG, a team they had faced in the Chinese Regional Finals. Royal Club won 2–0, advancing to face Fnatic, Europe’s top seed. They defeated Fnatic 3–1 in the series. In the grand finals, Royal Club faced SK Telecom T1, a favored Korean team. They lost 0–3 but earned second place.
After S3, Tabe and Wh1t3zZ retired, and Lucky became a substitute. Uzi became team captain and tried other positions like jungle and mid. To prepare for the 2014 IPL Spring, Royal Club changed most of their roster, adding players like Yao, a former LMQ Tian Ci top laner, and support Bao.
On May 17, 2014, the previous owner of Royal Club stepped down as CEO, and Li Yande (eNO) took over. The team was rebranded as Star Horn and replaced Royal Club in the LPL Summer Season.
Royal Club beat LPL team OMG 3–2 in the semifinals and reached the finals of the 2014 League of Legends World Championship, where they lost to Samsung Galaxy White 3–1.
Star Horn finished 10th in the 2015 LPL Spring Round Robin, which eliminated them from the playoffs.
By winning a championship and finishing second in the spring and summer, RNG qualified for the 2016 World Championship.
In the 2017 LPL Spring Season, RNG was placed in Group A and won first place. In the 2017 LPL Spring Playoffs, RNG defeated EDG in the semifinals 3–1 but lost to WE in the finals 0–3. This prevented them from qualifying for the 2017 Mid-Season Invitational.
In June, RNG won the Demacia Cup Summer 2017 Playoffs in Changsha. In July, RNG helped LPL win its first Rift Rivals championship. In the 2017 LPL Summer Playoffs, RNG defeated Team WE 3–2 in the semifinals but lost to EDG 2–3 in the finals.
Although RNG finished second in the spring and summer, they earned enough points to qualify for the 2017 World Championship. They were placed in Group C and won first place in the group stage. In the quarterfinals, they defeated FNC 3–1 but lost to SK Telecom T1 in the semifinals.
In the 2018 LPL Spring Playoffs, RNG defeated WE and Invictus Gaming in the semifinals and EDG in the finals. In the 2018 Mid-Season Invitational, RNG won first place in the group stage and defeated KZ from LCK 3–1 in the first-place tiebreaker.
In June, RNG won the Demacia Cup Summer 2018 Playoffs in Zhuhai. In July, RNG helped LPL win the 2018 Rift Rivals championship. In the 2018 LPL Summer Playoffs, RNG defeated TOP 3–1.
After the summer season, RNG earned enough points to qualify for the 2018 World Championship and won first place in the group stage. In the knockout stage, they lost in the quarterfinals to G2.