Riot Games Inc. – League of Legends And Beyond

Riot Games Inc. is a US-based video game developer with its headquarters in West Los Angeles, California. They are mostly known as the developers of the popular multiplayer battle arena game, League of Legends.

Aside from developing games, Riot Games is also know in the esports circuit by operating tournament’s featuring League of Legends players.

Riot Games was founded in 2006, by two friends – and video game lovers – Brandon Beck and Marc Merril. The two had been roommates at the University of Southern California and they bonded over their love of games and their frustration over their belief that game developers were not listening to their fans.

The two decided to create a company that was focused on the players and created games that would evolve to give a better gaming experience, rather than just release game after game.  So far they have successfully released the following four games.

1. League of Legends

This was the first and still one of the most popular offerings by Riot Games Inc. It is a multi-player game set in the world of “Runeterra.”

 Players form teams and battle it out on against other teams to destroy the other’s “Nexus”, a structure located deep in the heart of the team’s base.

Originally released in 2009 for Microsoft Windows and macOS, it became the most played PC game in both Europe and North American by number of hours played by July 2012. As of September 2019, Riot Games Inc. estimated that there are about 8 million peak concurrent users of League of Legends every day.

Legue of Legends is known for continuous developments and improvements that are made in response to player feedback. The game designers as well as Riot Games Inc. executives have helped grow a dedicted fanbase for their game by participating in online forums and showing a real interest in listening to players and tweaking the game experience accordingly.

As an eSport

League of Legends is one of the world’s largest esports, with several annual tournament’s held world wide. As of June 2016, League of Legends tournaments had accumulated about $29,203,916 in prize money, with 4,083 players and 1,718 tournaments.

League of Legends as an esport is supported considerably by Riot Games Inc. which operates the League of Legends Championship Series. Since 2013, this annual competition brings together 10 teams of top esports professionals to battle it out in League of Legends.

League of Legends: Wild Rift

Announced for launch this year, but without a definite date yet, is League of Legends: Wild Rift. It is supposed to be an abridge version of League of Legends that can be played on mobile devices running either Android or iOS. It will also be made available for play on certain consoles, such as the Nintendo Switch, but there has been no official word yet as to what these consoles will be.

2. Teamfight Tactics

This auto battler game was officially released by Riot Games Inc. in 2019, then years after League of Legends. It is available to play on mobile devices running on either Android and iOS. It is also available for play on PCs running either Microsoft Windows or macOS.

Teamfight Tactics is set in the same universe as League of Legends but is based on Dota Auto Chess which was developed by Drodo Studio.  Players form teams of eight and battle each other till only one player remains.

As of September last year, Teamfight Tactics reportedly had about 33 million players monthly who had 1.72 billion hours accumulated game time.

3. Legends of Runeterra

2020 is turning out to be a busy year for Riot Games Inc, with three games announced for release. The first of these new games is Legends of Runeterra, a digital collectible card game that is available for devices operation on Android, iOS, and Microsoft Windows.

Legends of Runeterra also exists in the League of Legends universe and it was officially launched on April 29, 2020.

Unlike League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics, this is not a team game, rather players face off one-on-one.  They start off with four cards and 20-health points and when the game starts they are given a mana gem.

Mana gems allow players to use their cards to attack other players or defend themselves from attacks. The game continues until one player has zero health points.

4. Valorant

Valorant, released on June 2, 2020 marks Riot Game’s entry into the popular world of first-person shooter games. This multiplayer game is available for play on Microsoft Windows.

Valorant is team-based, so you play as part of a team of five. The standard mode of the game sees you as part of either a defending or attacking team. If you are in the attacking team, you have a device called the Spike, which you need to deliver to a certain location and activate. The other team is the defending team and they are guarding this location and will try and hamper your progress.

Both teams must try to eliminate the other before a 100-second timer runs out. If the attacking team either eliminates all the defending team or successfully activates the Spike before time runs out, they win. Conversely, if the defending team either eliminates the attacking team or just keeps them from activating the Spike before time runs out, they win.

There are three other play modes, including Spike Rush, which is basically Standard mode but on a best of 7 basis. One team must win four out of seven rounds to win the whole game. There is also the Competitive mode, which is the standard mode but with a win-based ranking system. After 5 games in Competitive mode, the player will get a rank for their performance.

A Deathmatch mode was introduced to Valorant just this August 5. In Deathmatch mode, 10 players participate in a free-for-all battle that will last for 6 minutes. To win Deathmatch, a player must reach 30 kills or, if the 6 minutes run out before anyone racks up 30 kills, have the most number of kills.