Riot Games Sets Its Sights on Global Domination
By Devon Wojcik
Over the last decade, Riot Games has become one of the most relevant and globally influential companies in the computer gaming industry.
Though their “League of Legends” hit might seem inconsequential to some here in the U.S., the grueling 10 years of thought, love and care into the one title has grown the company from a nameless developer in 2006 to an internationally beloved phenomenon.
Over the course of League’s illustrious lifeline, developers have taken painstaking measures to hone the craft of properly updating and fixing the game as needed. But what’s really attracted massive fandom is the way Riot gives their player base efficacy over the changes. That kind of rare consumer respect is partially what pulls in new fans in continually growing numbers.
They’ve done their best to change up certain tired gaming industry practices we’d all rather do without and have maintained massive popularity along the way. To this day, League is one of the most played games in the world.
Building on that success, Riot’s made a solid home for itself in the esports world — while heavily influencing esports’ overall evolution — with League players competing on a professional scale, and watchers tuning in weekly to check up on favorite streamers.
Riot Games headquarters. Photo by Chris Yunker/Wikimedia Commons.
Just after Riot celebrated its 10-year anniversary, they made some announcements indicating that they’re planning to branch out with some extraordinarily ambitious projects, alongside their regular duties of keeping League healthy. When a company with a track record like Riot’s says it’s going widen its berth, people should pay attention.
First and foremost, to bridge the gap between PC, console and mobile gamers, they’re planning to release a slightly modified version of their free MOBA League of Legends to both console and mobile platforms. They’ll also be transitioning their hit strategy game spinoff “Teamfight Tactics” to mobile devices as early as March 2020. Although this may sound like a far cry from visionary, allowing mobile and console players to partake in a free experience they might absolutely fall in love is a gigantic step for Riot as they begin to expand their empire in the new market directions.
Riot, realizing this as well, has recently announced that the company is beginning the development of several brand new IP’s that all have the potential to be huge successes globally, including a strategy card game also debuting early 2020, a character-based first person shooter, an RPG experience, a fighting game featuring long-beloved League characters and last but not least an animated series that will take place within the League universe.
Riot’s ability to keep a metaphorical finger on the pulse of consumers’ desires has granted them quite the financial and creative ability to support new ideas and projects. Instead of squandering either well deserved position, Riot Games continues to push the envelope, finally entering the arena of multiple game development.
While it is uncertain whether Riot can replicate the same global fanbase and infrastructure they’ve handcrafted for League, it is exciting to hope that any of these projects could be a gateway for the company to begin competing in the Triple A developer-dominated console gaming industry.
If they bring along the simple and player-centric business practices that have earned them such enormous success so far, they have a solid chance of revolutionizing the rest of the industry worldwide.
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