Riot Games is an American video game developer and publisher. It is also an esports tournament organizer. It is based in Los Angeles. The company was founded in 2006 by Xiaohong Zhao. Its flagship title is League of Legends. It has a large fanbase worldwide and continues to break records. It has developed over 20 different titles and hosts multiple tournaments every year. As of April 2018, it has over 1.4 billion active users.
Valiant continues to achieve record metrics.
The free-to-play first-person shooter game VALORANT is the latest offering from Tencent-owned Riot Games. The game is a team-based battle arena where five players are divided into agents with different special abilities. These agents can be used to attack and defend the base. The game continues to achieve record metrics for Tencent and is expected to continue to do so shortly.
The game has seen massive growth over the last few months. It peaked at over fifteen million monthly players and over 1.5 million daily active players. While this growth isn’t sustainable over the long run, it shows the game’s potential. Riot Games has done a great job of keeping the game fun and fresh. Regular updates and new content have kept the player base healthy. It is a game many people enjoy and will continue to play.
Despite the recent success of League of Legends, Valorant is expected to work better as a freemium game. It could attract 30 million to 50 million active players over time. While it will take time for Valorant to reach League of Legends’ ARPU, a $10 yearly ARPU will be enough to make the game profitable. This could result in profits in the neighborhood of $500 million a year.
Riot Games alleged that Shanghai Moonton Technology copied its “League of Legends: Wild Rift.”
The lawsuit aims to stop the Chinese game maker from copying the work of the “League of Legends” creators, Riot Games. The company says that Moonton copied several assets, including character designs, in-game assets, and even the “League of Legends” logo. The suit also claims that Moonton copied the logo of the original “League of Legends” game and the music it featured. Both companies are not backing down from the lawsuit, and the dispute is ongoing.
The company claimed that Moonton copied the game’s logo, marketing materials, and game features in a bid to acquire Riot. The Chinese company bought Moonton in a $4 billion acquisition last year, and the lawsuit details how Moonton copied “League of Legends: Wild Rift” content. Moonton’s CEO also allegedly copied the game’s logo and marketing materials.
After Riot’s lawsuit, the Chinese company pulled its game from Google Play. The Chinese firm was not found guilty of violating the law, but it received a judgment of $2.9 million against its chief executive. This case will test whether Shanghai Moonton Technology acted irrationally in copying the League of Legends game.
Garena’s Free Fire is a competitor of PUBG and Fortnite.
The emergence of free-to-play games on the mobile platform is a huge boon for the developers of PUBG and Fortnite. With Garena’s Free Fire, the game has expanded its reach globally. Since its release, the game has grown 5x quarterly active users to 272 million, compared to 56 million in 1Q17. In addition, the game has seen growth in markets such as India and Russia.
While Fortnite and PUBG were both launched in 2016, Free Fire was released earlier this year. The game originally found popularity in Southeast Asia and has since expanded into South America. It has become the most downloaded game on the Google Play Store and iOS App Store for two years. Free Fire’s competitive tournament system has also received great viewership. Season three of the game’s Pro League attracted more than one million viewers. Garena has also launched Free Fire on Android.
Garena’s Free Fire’s popularity is attributed to its innovative approach to esports. The company will host the Free Fire World Cup in Bangkok in April. The tournament will be open to 15,000 local teams. The top twelve teams will be flown into the city to compete for the Free Fire World Champion title. To become the first Free Fire World Champion, a team must win all of its preliminary rounds and the finals.
Epic Games
After years of working with the company, Cliff Bleszinski abruptly left the company in October 2012. While his official reason was that he needed “a much-needed break,” he later admitted that he had grown “jaded” by the gaming industry. Though he tried to renegotiate his contract after Tencent’s involvement, he decided to walk away rather than come to work. After a brief hiatus, the CEO of Epic Games came down to talk with Bleszinski and a few employees.
According to reports, both Tencent and Epic have stakes in the companies. While they are working on a potential deal, they are not saying whether they plan to share players’ data. Meanwhile, Epic maintains that it will never share user data with Tencent. But it remains to be seen if this is indeed the case. The US government has a long-standing public aversion to foreign data collection, and tensions between China and the US have increased.
In the United States, Activision Blizzard also has a minority stake in the company, and the fallout from the recent protests in Hong Kong affected other affiliated spaces. While the game wasn’t affected directly, one player who expressed his support for the protests in an online broadcast supported the protests. He was suspended for one year. It’s unclear why he did so, but the repercussions are still being felt today.
Activision Blizzard
Tencent is a Chinese internet and entertainment company and a major game investor. The company has a wide range of investments, including Riot, Epic Games, Glu Mobile, and Ubisoft. Tencent has over 500 million active users, an impressive number for a company whose core business is gaming. The company has many properties, including mobile gaming developer Supercell and the desktop messaging service Miniclip.
Riot is a game development studio that produces many of the world’s biggest games. This is a major step for the Chinese firm and could help it expand its gaming empire. Tencent has said that it is a “hands-off” owner and has been supportive of Riot’s independence. Riot’s CEO, Eric Xu, says he is “very happy with the company’s progress.” The Chinese publisher is also working to develop games more suited to Western gamers.
The company could also not sell most of its shares to investors, and the rest of the game’s revenue is uncertain. Despite this, Riot still has over a hundred million active monthly players and makes $1.5 billion yearly revenue. According to EEDAR, Riot is expected to generate more than $1 billion in revenue this year. Moreover, Riot has a large fan base in China, with over 40 million Chinese users.
Activision’s Battle Royale
Tencent has taken a prominent role in the latest Call of Duty game and is making its presence known by partnering with the highly popular video game developer. This game will also feature new modes such as Search and Destroy Team Deathmatch and Free for All. It will also feature iconic maps, including Rio De Janeiro’s Favela. Tencent is also collaborating with the developer of PUBG Mobile to bring new features to the popular battle royale mode.
Tencent, which owns Riot Games and Epic Games, has also made recent deals in the gaming industry. Its purchase of Vivendi Games’ stake in Activision was a key step in the former’s evolution into an AAA video game. It has also invested heavily in Activision’s investment group and is now the company’s largest shareholder. Tencent owns nearly 25% of the company.
Although Activision and Riot are the world’s largest video game companies, they’re not the only ones competing with Tencent. Tencent has invested in the Call of Duty game since 2013 and announced plans to release it in China. The company’s closest competition was the Korean developer Smilegate’s Cross Fire. Despite this, Tencent has hedged its bet by releasing Fortnite in 2020, likely spawning tournaments and leagues.
Lightspeed & Quantum
Tencent is expanding its presence in the international video game market with its recent acquisition of the System Shock franchise. It has established offices in many regions and countries, including the United States, and is looking to expand further. LightSpeed Studios will continue to be headquartered in China and expand into other regions. This acquisition will allow Tencent to explore new markets and create next-generation products.
In addition to developing popular mobile games, the studios also have a Western arm, led by former Rockstar employees. Their first project is a multiplayer open-world game that will be developed for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The studio will also expand into other areas, such as movies and smart toys. Lightspeed & Quantum at Tencent Riot is an expansion of the studios that started in China.
The company’s studio, Lightspeed & Quantum, is the developer of PUBG Mobile, which has already become a global hit. Its development philosophy is aligned with the strategy of Tencent to expand its business abroad. The studios will continue developing PUBG while pursuing other endeavors, such as creating a mobile game for Android and iOS. It’s important for Tencent to find and hire talent worldwide.
