Riot Games was founded in 2006 by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill with one goal: make League of Legends, a game inspired by the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients. That single game turned into the most popular esport on Earth and one of the highest-grossing games of all time, generating an estimated $1.5-2 billion annually at its peak.
League of Legends launched in 2009 and quickly became the defining title of the MOBA genre. Its competitive scene, the League of Legends Championship Series and World Championship, regularly attracts tens of millions of viewers. The 2023 Worlds final peaked at over 6 million concurrent viewers on official streams alone.
After years as a single-game studio, Riot expanded dramatically. Valorant, a tactical shooter launched in 2020, directly challenged CS:GO and has built a thriving competitive scene. Teamfight Tactics brought auto-battler gameplay to Riot’s ecosystem. Legends of Runeterra is the company’s digital card game. And Wild Rift adapted League of Legends for mobile.
Arcane, an animated series produced with Fortiche Production for Netflix, premiered in 2021 and was one of the most critically acclaimed video game adaptations ever made, winning an Emmy and reaching number one on Netflix globally.
Tencent acquired Riot Games in stages, taking full ownership in 2015. Despite being wholly owned by the Chinese tech giant, Riot maintains operational independence from its Los Angeles headquarters. The studio has grown from a small team to over 5,000 employees across 20+ offices worldwide.
