Riot Games

In 2009, Riot Games released a multiplayer online battle area (MOBA) game known as League of Legends. With Riot Games being a fairly new company, nobody expected League of Legends to grow at such a tremendous rate with no sign of slowing down. As of today, the game is home to over 7.5 million players daily and is largely regarded by most as one of the greatest video games in history. Between April 2013 and March 2014, Riot Games managed to achieve a revenue of 937 million US dollars  while staying privately traded and keeping their game free-to-play. Riot Games’ success has been a surprise to many, but upon further inspection it becomes evident the company’s success is definitely not a fluke. First off, their product – League of Legends – is literally a click away for anyone interested. By being free-to-play, the game’s player base is growing every single day and veteran players have all the reasons to stay. The game is constantly being updated to keep the content fresh and gameplay is monitored by staff to ensure that the community is friendly. In addition, Riot employees are constantly interacting with the online community through Reddit and other forms of social media. This is where the company capitalizes. By having a genuinely fantastic product and unparalleled customer service, Riot Games is able to run a free-to-play game while making incredible profit through in-game currency, merchandise and advertisements during their live broadcasts. Recently, the game has also evolved into one of the most popular spectator sports on the planet. Because the game is complex enough to be competitive yet simple enough to easily understand the basics, even those who don’t play the game can enjoy watching the pros. The emergence of competitive League of Legends has turned gamers into professional personalities with large fanbases and sparked a growth in the entire Esports industry. Having the champion skin that your favorite professional player uses is now equivalent to owning your favorite basketball player’s jersey. Now, where does Riot Games go from here? Well at this point in time, it seems like the sky is the limit.

Fans can watch as their favorite teams face off in the competitive scene.