Riot Games

Before getting into the why, I want to explain just how Riot Games has put Esports in the forefront of their attention since the beginning of League of Legends and how it has manifested itself into one of the biggest Esports to date. For reference, the events that League has put on boast three of the top 10 largest prize pools ever for an Esport (dotesports.com). This is of course, a single metric, but it also immediately puts League into the conversation of biggest Esport.

So what did they do to get here? 

League of Legends, since the beginning, has developed a game that excels in holding Esports competition by any metric you may look at it from. First of all, they have always held the philosophy that investing in Esports is the same as investing in their game. After all, Esports are another way gamers stay interested in a video game title far after the initial spurt of fun you get from playing a new game fades. In addition, it's a way to keep them further engaged in a game they love. Certainly, there are times when you come home from work and don't feel like queuing up for a game yourself. Watching however, via twitch streams or broadcasts, is a much less intensive, more relaxing form of engagement with the game you adore. But what specifically is Riot doing to facilitate this?

Since day 1, or should I say season 1, Riot has been holding a year-end event called Worlds. This event brings together the years best teams to compete against each other in international competition. In fact, since season 2, they have been committing at least $5 million to be paid out in prize pools over the course of the year. With $1 million up top for the team that would eventually be crowned World Champion. That monetary commitment alone, demands attention from big names. In fact, I had a back and forth email exchange my freshman year of college (2015) with Marc Cuban (IU alumni and business savvy owner of the Dallas Mavericks) about purchasing the then-for-sale, Team Impulse. And all the way back in 2015, he had already been eyeing League of Legends organizations while looking for his in to investing in this new space. 

What else makes Riot and League of Legends, so valuable to Esport investors? The League Championship Series (aka the LCS aka the North America governing body for League of Legends) was one of the first leagues, along with the Overwatch League, to franchise. This meant investors could put money into a team, knowing down the line, that team would still be competing. Prior to this it was a promotion/relegation system to ensure the quality of competition stayed as high as possible.

In addition, Riot Games remain one of the few video game developers to consistently patch (minor changes to the game in order to keep it fresh and fair) their game with Esports front of mind. As an old Call of Duty fan, I know the struggles of not having a developers support for Esports. One day the game is being played with certain well thought out strategies and the next those are tossed by the wayside due to the balance changes. Essentially, the same issue Fortnite is having right now. Professionals across Esport titles all sympathize with Fortnite players who complain about Epic Games implementing items that alter the state of the game so immensely with such a high frequency. Where all professionals originally relied heavily on their skill to build, the value of said skill has been diminished consistently since the games release. The transparent, consistent way Riot Games outlines patches allow for professionals to know the time they are spending will not be wasted.

Other notable Riot Games initiatives include: the founding of a governing body for collegiate League of Legends, the development of products such as Pro View (something I touched on in my last post), and their recent partnership with Nielsen to properly record and issue data regarding the viewership of their games.

So why is Riot Games so good at keeping fans engages and investors happy in the realm of Esports? It all starts with the two creators of this game, Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck. Both of them grew their interest in video games from Starcraft, a title that is -- amazingly enough -- still around today. Video games are infamous for having small stretches of play and then dying off when a new title arises. Starcraft is one of the first to truly put an emphasis on Esports and with that, the two of them immediately saw the value in having a strong Esports scene. Of course, this is just my take on how Riot Games grew to be one of the stronger supporters of Esports in the entire industry.

As always see you later,

Billy VA