Riot Games

Riot Games was founded in Los Angeles in 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill, who set out to build a company focused on games played as ongoing services rather than one-off releases. Its first title, League of Legends, launched for Windows in October 2009. Based on the original Defense of the Ancients mod’s multiplayer online battle arena format, League pits two five-player teams against each other on maps including Summoner’s Rift, where the principal objective is destroying the opposing Nexus. Riot has continually expanded the game through playable champions, balance updates, seasonal systems, and international esports competition.

League of Legends became the foundation of the League of Legends Championship Series in North America and Europe in 2013, and of Riot’s wider regional league structure. The annual League of Legends World Championship has been staged in major venues around the world; Riot announced that the 2023 final in Seoul drew a peak concurrent viewership of more than 100 million, excluding Chinese platforms.

Riot’s portfolio broadened substantially after League. Teamfight Tactics, an auto-battler initially released as a League mode in 2019, became a standalone title. Legends of Runeterra, a digital collectible card game set in Runeterra, launched in 2020. Valorant, Riot’s free-to-play tactical first-person shooter, entered closed beta in April 2020 and released on Windows that June. Its Valorant Champions Tour culminates annually in Champions, with teams qualifying through international leagues and regional events.

In November 2021, Riot and Fortiche released Arcane on Netflix. The animated series follows sisters Vi and Jinx amid the conflict between Piltover and Zaun, using characters and locations from League of Legends. Arcane won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 2022, becoming the first streaming series to win that category. Its second and final season arrived in November 2024.

Riot has also pursued music and publishing extensions around its games. Virtual groups K/DA, True Damage, Pentakill, and HEARTSTEEL have released songs tied to League champions and events. Riot Forge, the company’s publishing label for externally developed games set in Runeterra, released titles including Ruined King: A League of Legends Story and The Mageseeker. Riot announced in 2024 it would refocus on fewer, high-impact projects and cut approximately 530 roles. The company remains headquartered in Los Angeles and is owned by Tencent, which acquired a majority stake in 2011 and full ownership in 2015, following Tencent’s investments and acquisitions over the preceding four years.