Riot Games

In October 2016, Riot Games released Mechs vs. Minions, a cooperative tabletop game based in the League of Legends Runeterra fictional setting.[46][47]

In January 2020, Riot Games announced the creation of a new internal studio, Riot Tabletop, which has several games in development. The first scheduled to be released is Tellstones: King's Gambit, a bluffing game for two or four players.[48]

• Ernst & Young — Entrepreneurs of the Year (Beck and Merrill) (2011)[49]
• Business Insider — 4th of the 25 Best Tech Companies to Work For (2013)[50]
• Game Developers Choice Awards — Pioneer Award (Beck and Merrill) (2014)[51]
• Glassdoor — 18th of the 50 Best Places to Work (2015)[52]
• Fortune — 39th of the 100 Best Companies to Work For (2016)[53]
• Inc. — Company of the Year (2016)[2]
• British Academy of Film and Television Arts — Special Award (2017)[54]
• National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences — Sports Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Graphic Design (2018)[55]

Over the first half of 2018, Kotaku spoke to about 28 former and current employees at Riot Games, several of whom claimed that female employees at Riot were being discriminated against, such as ideas from female employees being overlooked while the same ideas from male employees being readily accepted, and some female employees being groomed for more senior positions only to be passed up by a new male hire. These employees described the environment within Riot as a "bro culture", more like a fraternity than a workplace. Kotaku published these interviews in an August 2018 report, and speculated that this came from Riot's history of generally catering to "core" gamers both in products and in hiring practices, which would cause the company to favor male employees over females.[56] Kotaku did speak to some Riot employees who stated these accusations were not true or were already being addressed; for example, Oksana Kubushyna, the head of platform, stated that efforts to improve the hiring process to be more diverse and inclusive toward women had started about nine months prior to Kotaku's article.[56] Riot Games' corporate communications lead Joe Hixson responded to the Kotaku article, stating "This article shines a light on areas where we haven't lived up to our own values, which will not stand at Riot. We've taken action against many of the specific instances in the article, and we're committed to digging in, addressing every issue, and fixing the underlying causes. All Rioters must be accountable for creating an environment where everyone has an equal opportunity to be heard, grow their role, advance in the organization, and fulfill their potential."[57]

In the week following Kotaku's article, several more current and former developers came forward to speak on their own experiences at Riot, which included claims of sexual harassment and misgendering. In a statement to Gamasutra, Hixson stated that the company is taking action based on the story and its response. Hixson stated that "our primary goal is to be listening to the personal experiences and stories of everyone that has ever been part of the Riot team" and "in instances where former Rioters are raising issues that we need to take action against, we are attempting to get in contact with them to learn more so we can take action".[58] Hixson further stated that in regards to some claims of misbehavior to higher-level executives at Riot, "we're investigating and will uphold our zero tolerance stance, no matter the seniority of those involved."[58] By the end of August 2018, Riot stated they were implementing seven "first steps" to change the company's internal culture in light of the issues raised, including a "Culture and Diversity & Inclusion Initiative" priority.[59] To help implement these, Riot hired Frances X. Frei as a senior adviser for diversity, leadership, and strategy.[60]

Despite these announcements, Riot Games' stance was put into the spotlight at the 2018 PAX West event at the start of September 2018. Due to the Kotaku article, Riot offered a session for attendees interested in getting into the video game industry, some roundtable talks and one-on-one sessions to review resumes, and only admitted women and non-binary people for a majority of this period; otherwise, the sessions were made available to view online by anyone after the event. Members of Riot's game communities expressed outrage at the exclusion of men, while Riot employees defended the decision as such gender-exclusive support was necessary to correct the male-dominated nature of video game development. Some of the feedback towards Riot included harassment and threats, and, in combination with events from the shooting at a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida the prior month, Riot plans to increase security at its upcoming events.[61] Two employees of Riot attempted to address the feedback from the PAX event, leading one to be fired and the other to leave the company; Riot stated that these departures were separate from their Diversity Initiative.[62]

In December 2018, Riot's CEO Nicolo Laurent sent an email to all employees stating that following the company's internal investigation, their COO, Scott Gelb, was suspended for two months without pay for workplace misconduct and would take training classes before his return. Riot stated to Kotaku that there still other cases they were investigating but did not involve those as senior as Gelb, and thus would not discuss these cases publicly.[63] By January 2019, Riot published its updated company values on its website, the first time since 2012, to reflect the apparent "bro culture" that the company had been seen as since the Kotaku report,[64] and by February 2019, had hired Angela Roseboro as the company's chief diversity officer to further help improve their culture.[65]

A proposed settlement was reached in the class-action suit in August 2019, which would include at least US$10 million in damages to women that had been employeed at Riot Games over the prior five years.[66] Representatives of the class stated "We believe that the policy changes Riot agreed to make will continue the progress toward equality that we've made over the last year", while Riot Games said "While this settlement helps bring peace of mind to women at Riot, we want to acknowledge that issues of discrimination and harassment go beyond gender, and acknowledge the victims who aren't covered in the suit."[67]

California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) had been investigating claims of gender discrimination at Riot Games since October 2018. In June 2019, DFEH had stated that Riot had denied providing them requested documents and were seeking action to compel these documents, though Riot stated that they have complied with all requests issued by the Department.[68] On word of the settlement, the Department filed a complaint with the court that stated they believed the settlement was far too low, estimating that the lawsuit potentially could have been worth as much as US$400 million. The state's Division of Labor Standards Enforcement also filed a complaint, believing the settlement would release Riot from labor liabilities that had been raised by the lawsuit. Both complaints urged the court to reject the proposed settlement.[69] Riot dismissed DFEH's larger value to the suit, as well as denying charges raised by the DFEH that it had colluded with the class's lawyer to reduce the amount they would pay through the settlement.[70]

As a result of the state's findings that the terms of the settlement should have been valued higher, the class withdrew the proposed US$10 million settlement and dropped their original legal counsel, bringing on new lawyers who had been involved in prior lawsuits related to the Me Too movement in February 2020.[71] Riot stated in response that they felt the original US$10 million figure "fair and adequate under the circumstances" after analysis, but remain committed to reaching a resolution.[72]

About three months after Kotaku's story, one current and one former Riot employee filed a lawsuit against the company, asserting the company engaged in gender discrimination in relation to their pay and position, and that the company had created a hostile workplace, including "the ongoing sexual harassment, misconduct, and bias which predominate the sexually-hostile [sic] working environment of Riot Games". The lawsuit seeks to qualify it as a class-action suit, and for damages to be based on unpaid wages, damages, and other factors to be determined at trial.[73] Three other employees followed with their own lawsuits against Riot Games in the months that followed. Riot Games attempted to have two of the suits dismissed in April 2019, citing that the two female plaintiffs of these suits, when hired, had agreed to third-party arbitration rather than take court action.[74] Internally, several employees of Riot threatened to walk out, an idea that had been around since the first Kotaku article, as alongside the coercion to use arbitration, these employees felt Riot had yet to improve its transparency on the processes and had otherwise continued to retain Gelb despite his suspension. Riot acknowledged there are issues, allowing employees to speak anonymously with the press, and plans to use town hall meetings and smaller group discussions with Roseboro and employees to determine the path forward.[75] Riot also committed to removing mandatory arbitration in new employee contracts and potentially for existing ones after the current litigation had been settled.[76] Additionally, Riot established a 90-day plan starting in May 2019 to continue to address internal issues related to diversity and inclusion.[77] Despite this, over one hundred Riot employees staged their walkout on May 6, 2019, demanding that Riot end forced arbitration for all past and current employees as well.[78] About two weeks following the walkout, Riot stated that they will not change forced arbitration in existing agreements while the current litigation against the company is ongoing.[79]

In 2017, Riot Games filed a lawsuit against Moonton Technology Co., the developer of the mobile game Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, because of copyright infringement, citing similarities between Mobile Legends and League of Legends. The case was initially dismissed in California on account of forum non conveniens. Tencent, on behalf of Riot Games, then filed a new lawsuit in a Chinese court, which ruled in Tencent's favor in July 2018, awarding it $2.9 million in damages.[80][81]

In October 2019, Riot Games filed a lawsuit against Riot Squad Esports LLC, a Chicago-based esports organization founded in March 2019, alleging that Riot Squad intentionally infringed on Riot Games' "Riot" trademark.[82][83]

In June 2020, Ron Johnson, Riot Games' global head of consumer products, shared a Facebook post that claimed George Floyd had been killed by police "because of his criminal lifestyle". The company subsequently placed Johnson on leave to conduct an investigation, after which Ron resigned from the company.[84][85][86][87]