It is in a long open letter that Riot Games boss Nicolo Laurent announces the studio’s plans for the next 5 years, and the stated objective is to replace people at the heart of their activities. To achieve this goal, however, Riot will have to pass by numerous internal restructurings.
The first objective announced by Nicolo Laurent is the creation of a real ecosystem capable of bringing everyone together, not only gamers, but also lovers of other types of entertainment. In the past, Riot was a studio dealing with a single game, League of Legends. Now and since the arrival of Nicolo Laurent in 2017, the studio has diversified. New games have been produced, we think in particular of VALORANT, wild rift or TFT, but also other means of entertainment, as in developing his esports scene or by investing in the audiovisual industry, producing a lot of music and also Arcane, his animated series. Nicolo Laurent wants to make Riot a “studio of players”, not just a game studio.
To achieve these goals, however, Riot will have to spend by a major internal restructuring. This restructuring will aim to putting the individual back at the center of Riot Games’ activities. The studio will operate using 5 pillars : 3 pillars dedicated to production, gaming, esports and entertainment, but also 2 administrative pillars, one in publishing and the other in business management. These pillars are dedicated to working together, for example by sharing their practices between development teams of different games. As with Arcane, these pillars will also be able to share their work to match the worlds of Riot games in audiovisual productions.
To put the individual even more at the center of activities, Riot Games also plans give more importance to its employees by offering them shares of the company. An agreement with Tencent, the main shareholder of Riot, has also been found to achieve this goal. Riot intends to involve its employees better, but in view of of the various lawsuits that the studio has experienced since 2018, mainly in the context of sexual assaults at work, the studio also intends to testify experience acquired during this period. It was recently that Riot had announced directly compensate victims of sexual assault, to avoid lengthy and costly legal proceedings. Employees would be compensated for their treatment while allowing Riot to invest the time and expense required for these procedures. to the improvement of working conditions.
Among Riot’s plans for the future, in addition to the MMORPG around the Runeterra universe, the group will therefore not be limited to video games. Riot Games intends to become a producer of entertainment of all kinds, bringing together people from all walks of life with different tastes. To do this, they will therefore adapt their strategy and restructure the company. The next 5 years will be very important for the American firm, whose development will be closely monitored.