Name | City | Status |
---|---|---|
LEC Studio | Berlin | Open |
Riot Games, Inc. is an American video game developer, publisher, and esports tournament organizer headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in September 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill to create League of Legends and later developed spin-off games and the unrelated first-person shooter game Valorant. In 2011, Riot Games was acquired by Chinese conglomerate Tencent. Riot Games' publishing arm, Riot Forge, oversees the production of League of Legends spin-offs by other developers. The company collaborated with Fortiche to release Arcane, a television series based on the League of Legends universe.
Riot Games operates 12 international League of Legends esports leagues, the League of Legends World Championship, and the Valorant Champions Tour. The company sells corporate sponsorships, merchandise, and streaming rights for its leagues. However, Riot has faced allegations and lawsuits regarding a toxic workplace culture, including gender discrimination and sexual harassment, and has been criticized for its use of forced arbitration in response to these allegations.
Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, the founders of Riot Games, became friends while studying business at the University of Southern California. They believed in the potential for long-term support and monetization of games, inspired by Defense of the Ancients and Asian video game designers' business models. Riot Games was established in September 2006 in Santa Monica, California, with initial funding of $1.5 million. League of Legends was released as a free-to-play game in October 2009 after several rounds of funding totaling $8 million, including investments by venture capital firms Benchmark and FirstMark Capital, as well as Tencent.
Following beta tests, Riot Games relocated its European headquarters to Dublin in May 2010. Tencent acquired a 93 percent stake in Riot Games for $400 million in February 2011, later increasing its ownership to 100 percent. In response to toxicity and harassment in League of Legends, Riot Games launched a "player behavior team" in 2012 and introduced various measures to combat harassment on its platform.
By 2013, League of Legends was the most-played multiplayer PC game globally, with over 100 million monthly players by 2016. Riot Games relocated to a new campus in western Los Angeles in 2015 and acquired Radiant Entertainment in March 2016. In October 2017, founders Beck and Merrill announced their focus on developing new games, with three longtime employees assuming leadership roles.
In October 2019, Riot Games announced new games, including League of Legends: Wild Rift, Legends of Runeterra, and Project A (later revealed as Valorant). Riot Forge, a publishing label, was launched in December 2019 to partner with smaller studios for League of Legends games. Riot Games acquired Hypixel Studios in April 2020 and announced plans for a Singapore office.
Riot collaborated with Fortiche to release the animated series Arcane in November 2021. In October 2022, Riot acquired Wargaming Sydney, renaming it Riot Sydney. In January 2023, Riot suffered a cyberattack, and in September 2023, Dylan Jadeja became CEO. Riot announced layoffs of 530 employees in January 2024, citing the need for long-term focus and sustainability.
Locations
Name | City | Status |
---|---|---|
LoL Park | Seoul | Open |
Sponsoring
Name | Start |
---|---|
YaLLa Esports | TBD |
GRID | 2023-11-30 |
News
- 2024-09-23 Riot Games to Update LCO Again
- 2024-09-09 Riot Games Partners with Opera GX
- 2024-09-04 Riot Play Club Revealed
- 2024-08-21 Riot Games Reveals Mixed Gender Tournament
- 2024-08-15 Riot Games Reveals Staff Changes
- 2024-07-30 Naz Aletaha to Leave Riot Games
- 2024-07-25 Riot Games Reveals VALORANT Anthem
- 2024-07-24 Riot Games Reveals League of Legends APAC League Details
- 2024-07-11 VALORANT Esports EMEA X Paysafe Partnership Announced
- 2024-06-27 Paul Bellezza Named as The New Executive Producer for League of Legends
- 2024-06-26 Stream Hatchet X Riot Games Partnership Expanded
- 2024-06-20 Epic Games Removes Region Lock from Fortnite Tournaments
- 2024-06-19 Riot Games Reveals Changes to Valorant Game Changers
- 2024-06-12 Riot Games Reveals New Plans for 2025
- 2024-05-16 Riot Games X Cisco Partnership Expanded
- 2024-05-08 Former Riot CEO Nicolo Laurent's Lawsuit Dropped
- 2024-05-03 Riot Defends League of Legends Anti-Cheat Software
- 2024-05-01 All Knights to Leave Latin American League
- 2024-04-30 Wong "Jayh" Jia Heng Banned by VALORANT Challengers
- 2024-04-24 VALORANT Reveals Premier Invite Division
- 2024-04-08 VCT Pacific Partners with XG
- 2024-04-02 Riot Games X Moonton Battle is Over
- 2024-04-01 Riot to Allow LoL and TFT Team to Attend Esports World Cup
- 2024-04-01 MSI Chengdu 2024 Revealed
- 2024-03-21 Riot to Shift MMO's Direction
- 2024-03-18 LoL Esports Business Model Changes
- 2024-03-07 Riot Games Reveals EMEA Masters 2024 Formats
- 2024-02-26 2XKO Announced by Riot Games
- 2024-02-22 VCT 2024 Official Team Capsules Revealed
- 2024-02-19 Valorant Champions 2024 Details Revealed
- 2024-02-16 LetsPlay.Live X Riot Games Partnership Extended
- 2024-02-09 LCS Partners with AT&T
- 2024-02-08 VALORANT Esports Hub to Return
- 2024-01-23 Riot Games Terminates 500 Positions
- 2024-01-10 KitKat X LoL Partnership Extended
- 2024-01-10 Riot Games Partners with HP
- 2023-12-26 Riot Teases New Agent
- 2023-12-20 Riot Games Partners with GGTech Entertainment
- 2023-12-13 New Commissioner of LCS Revealed
- 2023-12-11 VCT China Teams Revealed
- 2023-12-06 LEC Format Changes Announced
- 2023-12-01 Riot Games Invests in GRID
- 2023-12-01 Riot Games Reveals New CPO
- 2023-11-30 The Riot Games Arena Revealed
- 2023-11-28 LJL Will be in PCS
- 2023-11-24 EMEA Teamfight Tactics Rising Legends Announced
- 2023-11-24 Convergence Event Announced
- 2023-11-20 League of Legends Worlds 2024 Finals Details Revealed
- 2023-11-16 Riot Games Extends Partnership with BMG
- 2023-11-15 ByteDance to Sell Moonton
- 2023-11-10 Riot Reveals Qualifying for Challengers through Premier
- 2023-11-02 Fantastic Pixel Castle Studio Revealed
- 2023-11-02 Riot Games X Gravity Media Partnership Expanded
- 2023-10-20 Riot Games Reveals Changes to Valorant Challengers Leagues
- 2023-10-16 Riot Games Reveals HEARTSTEEL
- 2023-10-06 Latest Scandal from VALORANT Game Changers
- 2023-10-06 Riot Games Partners with Casio