Riot Games Reviews

Pros

Vibrant,open minded environment where you can challenge anyone and it will be received with right intent.

Advice to Management

Have proper tools to better manage the resources without changing the culture.

Pros

- super intelligent and humble people. don't feel like i have to babysit people or be held accountable for others' incompetence
- bottom up decision making
- get to play games at work!
- direct communication and expectations
- diversity is sincerely discussed and the company takes definite strides to ensure there's fairness in hiring, promotions, performance evaluations, etc. Diversity of the workforce and attitudes towards creating a positive environment for everyone definitely exceeded my expectations at a game company (or for any industry, really). That being said, as is true of every company -- there's still work to be done
- excellent benefits (variety of healthcare options, 401k matching, free meals 3x/day, open PTO, game fund...)

I love working at Riot, it's exceeded my expectations in pretty much every way. I knew working at a video game company would probably be fun, but I expected a lot of things to be more immature and short-sighted than how they actually are here. I love that everyone is treated with respect and trust, rather than having intense levels of micromanagement to account for the lowest possible denominator. Culture is super important here, but that means we all have a common thread that binds us together, which is really nice after working at companies where there’s nothing connecting employees besides a paycheck. Personal development is also important, and you have the opportunity to grow and change roles if that's what makes the most sense for you.

Advice to Management

Shorten the interview process. I get that you're looking for strong culture fits, but I think that could be done without the call with the final boss

Pros

- Open feedback culture has helped me grow tremendously. I love working with an organization that allows me to be transparent and open about my growth and development. I receive feedback in real time, and while that is jarring at first, I am so thankful and have grown so much.
- Beautiful campus with excellent on-campus benefits (coffee bar, three meals a day at a fully-subsidized cafe, plenty of outside and community spaces to change the pace of day-to-day work
- Talented people - this is echoed in a lot of reviews, but it's true. Everyone that works here is brilliant in their own right. Not only that, but everyone is kind, and goes out of their way to be kind.
- Compensation - I can't speak for everyone, but my comp far exceeded my expectations upon being hired
- Casual dress code (as long as you're covering what's required by law, you're good!)
- Work-life balance - I actually have a great work-life balance, but I realize that can vary from team to team

Advice to Management

Now that we have the brilliant people necessary to carry the company forward at the ground-level, get together and figure out tangible steps that need to be taken to drive forward at an organizational level so that we aren't having to re-invent the wheel every time we're thrown a curveball. Riot has made me a creative problem-solver and a scrappy, resourceful professional as a result of loose regulations (and for that I am thankful), but it doesn't necessarily have to be that way.

Pros

Riot is home to some of the most talented, creative and hard working people in gaming. Compensation is competitive, benefits are generous and the campus is lovely.

Advice to Management

Recent calls have made it clear you are reading exit interview data and seeing trends in the feedback. Maybe reaching out to those who left over the past year plus and asking if there was anything more they'd wished they'd stated but were afraid to for whatever reason would also be a good idea.

Pros

Benefits, high pay relative to similar positions in the industry, and lots of genuinely hardworking co-workers who are passionate about what they do and who put in true hard work.

Advice to Management

Stop disrespecting the amazing talent you have hired and hold your executives/yourselves accountable for all the failures Riot has experienced as a company. Get your egos out of the workplace and let craft SMEs do their thing. Creative decisions should not be made by non-creative executives who -think- they are creative.

Pros

Talented colleagues. I've had the privilege of working with amazing individuals. Individual contributors are passionate about what they do.

Other perks:
- Free meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner)
- Fully stocked pantries and onsite coffee shop
- Meditation, fitness, and nap rooms, onsite massages
- Unlimited PTO, 401k matching

Advice to Management

Invest in your talent. Instead of letting people leave or letting people go because you don't know how to solve a problem, ask for help.

Pros

- Work with some of the best talent in the industry. I feel privileged to being able to work closely with the former WoW balance lead, the Exec Producer from Halo Reach, the Production Director from EVE, and many more talented individuals from inside and outside games. Riot is stacked with inspiring talent to learn from.

- Leadership of Gamers: I've been around the industry and most senior executives don't even play the games they worked on and made major decisions for. At Riot, you're an outsider if you don't play a bunch of games (Marc & Brandon the founders, Nicolo, the CEO, Scott the CTO are all big gamers) - this means they actually get hands-on and deeply understand the games being made (and what player concerns might be).

- New Leadership: I think Riot has been complacent in the last couple years, the luxury of success on League of Legends meant there was no urgency to innovate. The new leadership at the C-Level realizes that League and the R&D titles no longer have that luxury, and are making hard choices on prioritization.

- Cares about Rioters: Riot has fantastic perks because they want to keep the talent (that's us) happy. They're one of a handful of companies in gaming that believes their best assets are the people that make the game - and it shows in how they empower teams, manage careers, and invest in Rioters.

- Big Bets: Riot is betting big on its future titles, and it will be exciting to see them in front of players. Now is the time for Riot to choose which ones to accelerate and to make sure those bets land well for players. This year is going to be pivotal in making sure that happens.

Advice to Management

- Continue (and do more) ruthlessly prioritizing among projects - choosing what is a priority is the only way we'll ever get a new game out the door.

- Try to share a little more internally on R&D; not everyone has your access and can't see the progress actually being made here.

- Think about how to simplify things for front-line Rioters to enable them to do their job faster and easier (especially if there is a drive for efficiency).

Pros

The people - fiercely passionate and mostly genuine. Although people complain about it, the comp and benefits package is ridiculous given the company's standing.

Advice to Management

Stop burning cash on perfecting what you believe will be the next big thing. Ship games and let the market react.

Pros

Engaging and Productive workplace
Good atmosphere

Pros

Riot is an amazing place
Great people, great perks
Talent is mindblowing
An empowering environment

Advice to Management

Don’t reward bad decisions. I understand the people should take risks, but when decisions are made by people with little to no experience, it’s pretty bad. Not to mention the hilarious amounts of money thrown at these individuals. Stop rewarding failure. If I take a chance and mess up completely, I would get fired or reprimanded. If someone needs to remind me they’re a leader…They’re not a leader.
If your D Leaders are unable to fire someone because it makes them feel bad, it’s even worse when they let goan entire department because of it.
Stop saying default to trust. I can’t trust someone that’s proven not to be reliable. The teams at Riot are insanely talented but some are managed by poor leadership. It’s very strange mentally when I can completely trust everyone around me but I can’t trust some of their leaders.
Apology emails do nothing if there’s no action.
Stop surrounding yourself with useless yes men. If people under someone keep getting fired or quitting, maybe it might not be them that’s the problem but their manager? Crazy idea I know.
Alignment works well in a small studio but fails completely in a large studio. Some departments resort to outsource even though its more expensive to get around it. Design by committee is how you become mediocre.