MAKING MAYHEM

RIOT GAMES is bigger than ever—and if it gets its way, this is only the beginning

- Steven Messner

GO ALL OUT

RIOT GAMES’ co-founder talks about its past, present, and ambitious future.

It doesn’t matter if you love or hate League of Legends, you should be paying attention to Riot Games. It’s hard not to, actually, when right now it’s taking over buildings in Paris, Singapore, and four other major cities, converting them into giant, interactive, promotional set-pieces—not to mention displaying a three-minute teaser on the facade of the world’s tallest tower in Dubai. Fortnite and Among Us now have League of Legends crossovers, and all of Riot’s games have just been hit with their own wave of big announcements, like Legends of Runterra’s new singleplayer roguelike deck builder mode. And at the center of this combo is Arcane, a gorgeous and epic new animated TV series set in the League of Legends world that premiered just days ago after the League World Finals. Riot knows how to make a scene.

The last two years have seen Riot evolve into something much more ambitious than just a game company: It’s becoming a media giant where music videos, animated TV series, and games all feedback into and draw from a universe of characters that one day might—it hopes—rival titans like Marvel and DC. Though League of Legends is at the heart of that universe, it isn’t just about teams of five squaring off in a map divided into three lanes anymore.