Riot Games Inc.

Riot Games is an American publisher of games in Santa Monica, California. Established in 2006. Riot Games launched the stand-alone title League of Legends as its first title in October 2009.
==History of Riot Games==
Riot Games, Inc. was founded in 2006 by Brandon "Ryze" Beck, and Marc "Tryndamere" Merrill with the goal of being a player-focused game development studio. The company launched its debut title League of Legends in October 2009.League of Legends Wikipedia On May 1, 2012, Riot Games announced its Season 2 Championship with a $2,000,000 prize pool.
Some of their notable employees include Steve "Guinsoo" Feak, a former developer of the Warcraft 3 custom map Defense of the Ancients and Steve "Snapdragon" Mescon, creator of the Defense of the Ancients fan site, DotA-Allstars.com.DotA-Allstars (domain expired) dota-allstars.com Riot Games also employs about a dozen former Blizzard developers, including Tom Cadwell.Riot Games expands All-Star Development Team (link expired) riotgames.com
==Growth==
===Community===
In a release published in November 2012, Riot Games claimed that League of Legends had accumulated 32.5 million players, 11.5 million of whom play monthly, of which 4.2 million play daily.Riot Games infographic (link expired) euw.leagueoflegends.com In March 2012, League of Legends became the #1 title in Korean PC Cafes.MMO Champion mmo-champion.com In Taiwan, it is estimated that almost 5 percent of their entire population played the game, with almost 1 million players subscribed on the server.Taipei lights up to celebrate 1 million LoL players chinagame.178.com
Dedicated players and Riot Games staff often meet at tournaments and all Riot staff are encouraged to post in the League of Legends forums, a policy that helps company employees maintain strong connections with the community. At tournaments, panels are held by the staff and memorabilia is handed out to reward the company's most loyal fans for their support.Why League of Legends is Great (Even Though I Suck) - PAX Prime 2011 gotgame.com Marc "Tryndamere" Merrill, Riot's president, answered questions from the League of Legends community in an AMA on Reddit on May 3, 2012.I am Marc "Tryndamere" Merrill, President & co-founder of Riot Games reddit.com Many players have also started streaming their gameplay for the enjoyment of the community to see what happens at different skill levels throughout the game.
===Investors===
Riot Games obtained around US$1 million from venture capital firms to create League of Legends. During the first months, the French servers of League Of Legends were based at group OVH, following the multitude of the players, Riot opened its own servers for a better autonomy. In later rounds of funding, the company raised $8 million in capital from venture capital firms Benchmark Capital and FirstMark Capital.Riot Games Rounds Up $8 Million nytimes.com In early 2011, the Chinese company Tencent Holdings invested in a majority stake in Riot Games valued at $400 million, according to Dow Jones business news.China's Tencent Buys Riot Games allthingsd.com The deal allowed Riot Games to maintain independent operations and its existing management team.UPDATE 1-Tencent acquires majority stake in Riot Games reuters.com
==Distribution==
Riot Games has signed deals regarding the distribution of League of Legends in Asia, Europe, and North America. The game is expected to be released in the rest of the world as well. The game has already released and is distributed in Australia, the United States, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Western and Eastern Europe and Brazil, with new countries being added over time.
In China, Tencent Inc. (Riot Games’ primary shareholder) distributes the game online. The deal is one of only a handful of partnerships to bring a U.S.-developed online game directly to China. In Southeast Asia, online game service provider Garena publishes League of Legends.
On July 14, 2009, Riot Games announced that League of Legends will be free with "no catch". There will be a digital copy for download, but there is also a digital collector's copy that will be available to purchase that contains exclusive skins, $10 credit for Riot Points, and 20 champions to access without unlocking them normally via gameplay as well as 4 "special" runes; the collector's pack is currently available for $29.99. Even though the game is free, Riot Games "plan[s] to continue to add content (characters etc...) with a full production team at very frequent intervals." Since release, Riot Games has released a new champion approximately every two weeks. Using both free-to-play and freemium models, the game is supported by microtransactions rather than ads or boxed copy sales.
In Europe, Riot Games has signed an international licensing partnership with GOA, the video games department of Orange's Content Division and Europe's largest gaming portal. On October 13, 2009, GOA and Riot announced that they would start channeling server access for players located in Europe, to GOA's dedicated servers. This restriction meant that players located in Europe would not be able to play on Riot's servers in the United States. Due to negative community feedback, the channeling decision was rescinded October 16, 2009. In North America, Riot Games self-publishes and operates the game and all of its customer service aspects.
On May 10, 2010, Riot Games announced that they would take over distribution and operation of the game in Europe. To do so, Riot Games established a European headquarters in Dublin.
On July 19, 2012, Riot Games launched the official Closed Beta Test servers for League of Legends Greece. The game has been fully localized, including translated menus, texts, subtitles, with all champions being dubbed.
On April 16, 2013, Riot Games launched the official Open Beta Test servers for League of Legends Russia. The game has been fully localized, including translated menus, texts, subtitles, with all champions being dubbed.Russian server now live! (link expired) euw.leagueoflegends.com
== Games developed ==
Year	Title 	Genre(s) 	Platform(s) 	Released
2009	League of Legends 	Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)	macOS, Microsoft Windows 	
2016	Mechs vs. Minions 	Strategy 	Tabletop 	October 2016
2020	Teamfight Tactics 	Auto battler 	Android, iOS, LOL (PC) 	
2020	League of Legends: Wild Rift	Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA)	Android, iOS, Consoles 	
2020	Legends of Runeterra 	Digital collectible card game 	Android, iOS, macOS, Microsoft Windows	
2020	VALORANT 	Tactical shooter 	TBA 	
TBD 	Project L 	Fighting Game 	TBA 	
TBD 	Project F 	TBA 	TBA 	
TBD 	LoL Esports Manager 	Management Game 	TBA 	
TBD 	 	 	 	
=== Minigames ===
Year	Title 	Genre(s) 	Platform(s) 	Developer(s)
2013	Astro Teemo 	Arcade 	Browser Game 	Pure Bang Games
2014	Cho'Gath Eats the World 	Arcade 	Browser Game 	Pure Bang Games
2015	Blitzcrank's Poro Roundup	Arcade 	Android (operating system), iOS 	Pure Bang Games
2017	Ziggs Arcade Blast 	Arcade 	Microsoft Windows 	Riot Games
2017	Thunderdome 	Arcade 	Consoles, Microsoft Windows, iOS, iPad	Riot Games
2018	Star Guardian: Insomnia 	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows 	Riot Games
2018	PROJECT.EXEcute 	Shoot 'em up	Microsoft Windows 	Riot Games
2018	Super Zac Ball 	Sports 	Microsoft Windows 	Riot Games
===Riot Forge Games===
Year	Title 	Genre(s)	Platform(s)	Released
TBA 	CONV/RGENCE	TBA 	TBA 	
TBA 	Ruined King	TBA 	TBA 	
===Game Applications===
Year	Title 	Genre(s) 	Platform(s) 	Released
2016	League+ 	Digital Application	Android, iOS 	
2017	League Displays	Digital Application	Microsoft Windows, Macintosh	
== External links ==
* Official homepage
* YouTube Channel
* Riot Games at Rawg.io
==References==
==Further reading==
# Brad Stone, Ashlee Vance, and Cliff Edwards, "Blurring the Line Between Virtual and Real.." Bloomberg Businessweek, no. 4235 (June 27, 2011): 37-38.
# EBL Reader. The Business of Media Distribution : Monetizing Film, TV and Video Content in an Online World.
# GOA and Riot Rescind IP Restriction Decision. League of Legends Community.
# Important Information Regarding IP Restrictions in Europe. League of Legends Community.
# Jamaica King (December 2010). Online Gaming Communities: Strengths, Limitations, & Death. Interface.
# Riot Games Inc establishes EMEA Headquarters in Dublin. IDA Ireland Investment Promotion Agency.
# Riot Games’ League of Legends Announced. 1UP.com.
# Riot Games Partners with Garena to bring League of Legends to Southeast Asia. League of Legends Community.
# Riot Games to Publish League of Legends in Europe. League of Legends Community.
# Lalee Sadighi, "Riot Games: $8 Million to Play With." Red Herring (2009): 2.
# Southeast Asia megathread. League of Legends Community.