The past year has arguably been the year when Fist games have changed the most, with the release of several titles such as Valorante, League of Legends mobile games, Runeland Legends, and Battle of Two Cities, the company has become a real Riot Games.
Recently, Nicolo Laurent, CEO of Riot Games, released an open letter summarizing the past year and announcing the company's goals for the next five years. In the open letter, Nicolo said that Fist Games will be reorganized into 5 business groups, hoping to become the most player-focused company and the highest paid company in the industry and even multiple industries.
Here's the full open letter compiled by GameLook:
If you remove the art, game design, music, engines, and everything else that makes a game a game, the player is left with a series of choices, large and small. In Fist Games, we talk a lot about these choices: micro choices (instant clicks, League of Legends scores, Things like Valorantry's control of perspectives) and macro options (playing Elemental Dragon or Baron, lineups in Genting Game, card building in Runeland Legends, etc.).
We can't always compare real life to games, but sometimes in fist games, when we think about strategy, it's helpful to use metaphors to break down big, seemingly impossible decisions into manageable, familiar decisions.
One of the more familiar choices for players is when to end the game. Get the win, end with a high profile, send GG and then go offline? Or do you do it again and risk losing? As I write this blog tonight, I've been CEO for over 4 years. Over the years there have been some of the greater victories, some mundane things, and some painful losses.
In the process of all this, the resilience of the Fist gamers and their dedication to the players has been the driving force for all of us to move forward, let's work hard for the next victory. So, going into 2022, I want to talk about my views on the company's performance and where we're headed in the future.
2021 has been an incredible year for the entire gaming industry, especially for Riot Games: 180 million players worldwide experience Fist games every month, hundreds of millions of players and newbies joined us in the first season of Twin Cities, we hosted the most watched World S Tournament ever, hosted the first global championship tournament for Valorante, League of Legends Mobile, and Legends of RuneLand, helped players raise $12 million for charity, and did so much more. It is also worth noting that All this is done by The Fist Gamer in the context of the global epidemic epidemic, which brings more difficulties to the smallest achievements.
It's easy to settle for a win and just stay where you are, and it's all about safety, repeating itself, a company that investors love but players hate.
But when we argue about whether to be safe or try more, we know it's not a problem at all. Our goal is to be the most player-focused game company in the world, and this mission is a wish that we know has not yet come true but can one day be fulfilled.
So, for this macro choice, we asked ourselves: What do players want but we haven't done yet? What do our games need to be the best products in their respective categories? What can we do to make esports better and bigger? In addition to music and TV shows, what kind of cosmic expression can we create? As we started answering these questions (and we actually asked a lot of other questions), we started making some long lists and realized that we were even on the surface in terms of what this company was able to do for players.
So what do we do next? How can we continue to exceed player expectations? How do you arrange for a company to do that? And how do we keep fist players focused on this journey?
climb
We often make a climb to each season in the game, and you start at the bottom, and in our game, the bottom is black iron. But through hard work, you continue to improve your rank, hoping to become the best one day. Whether we call it a Challenger, Radiant, or an Extraordinary Master, the head position is a wish to fulfill and dream. One of my favorite movies is related to climbing, and so is my favorite world, Anthem.
Mount Targon is the tallest mountain in Legends of the RuneLands
Take the release of League of Legends as the beginning of the climb, so over the years, we have continued to climb up the ladder by releasing esports, making great music, and so on. Shortly after I became CEO in 2017, we set a goal for the future. Our biggest focus is on releasing new games (becoming true Riot Games), making esports sustainable, and planting the seeds of our film and television universe, but also important work diversity and inclusion, talent and financial processes, culture, and more.
Today, we are satisfied with the climb. We had 5 games in operation, esports was the hottest ever, Twin Cities was released worldwide, we expanded the team to more than 3,000 people with a new distribution office and a newly formed R&D studio, we learned how to get together at a time like League of Legends X Twin Cities, we had a mature culture, process, planning, diversity and inclusion, more features resonated with Fist Man in internal and external surveys, and there were a lot more things I could list.
Summon the next attempt
So, if we don't stop here, what's next?
We're going to always be making games, but we're also increasingly realizing that categorizing ourselves is an outdated way, we don't want to be defined by what we've done, we want to be defined by the people we serve. In a different way, we don't want to think of ourselves as a game company, but as a player's company.
The most important part of a business for players is always games, but we know that being associated with these games is critical to a complete experience. Whether it's helping gamers enjoy great esports, helping them share the animations and music of the game world with people who don't love games as much as they do, or something we haven't thought of yet, serving gamers goes far beyond giving them the updated versions of the games they love.
If anyone reads this and worries that we might play down the game effort and distract us, I want to assure you that this is not the case. In fact, it's the opposite: we focus on depth rather than breadth. Looking ahead to the next few years, of course, we'll release other games, possibly season two or more of Twin Cities, and a series of surprises. But the users we focus on are still the same people, the founders brandon and Marc who dreamed of the company back-to-back: focused players who were abandoned by other developers to chase the next big thing. If we become that company, sooner or later it will close.
Over the past few months, we've had conversations with the Fist Man about the next climb. If we believe there is a world where the biggest cinematic universe is rooted in games, the hottest music starts with games (K/DA), and the most exciting sport is esports, what should we do in the next five years to bring such a world one step closer?
Fist games for the future of five goals
No one likes spoilers, so I'll skip the specifics today, but at a higher level we set 5 goals for the next five years:
Win in our category: Our games will continue to listen to players, solve player pain points, surprise and delight players, and take their respective categories to the next level.
Unleash the fan economy: We'll create groundbreaking gameplay, gaming activities, and features that redefine the fan economy in esports, TV, movies, music, online experiences, commerce, and more.
Pursue creativity and innovation: We will make it easier, safer, and more daring for our fist people to take bigger, more innovative and creative risks, thereby deepening our connection with our players.
Build games around the world: Riot Games will set up a studio outside OF LAX headquarters to seek a diverse talent distribution around the world.
Reinventing the viewing experience: Fist Esports will lead the industry in reinventing esports live streaming and creating new ways for viewers to engage with fans.
In the next few years, you'll see us do more for these goals, but today I want to focus less on what we're going to do in the future and more about how to build Fist Games and unite Fist Players to help us reach those goals.
Specifically, this means how we 1) redefine the way we work 2) continue to upgrade the company culture to focus on our goals 3) acknowledge our past and move on to the next stage 4) reward Riot employees for sharing the company's success 5) ensure that everyone at Riot will be happy with our development and focused on helping the company achieve its goals.
1) Redefine the way we work (operating model and hybrid working mode)
It's been a long time since Riot games were small indie game companies, but in fact, I miss some of the stuff from small companies, which may just be nostalgic, but I remember spending less time meetings and more time doing things.
In 2020, we released a project to rethink the structure of our company and how we worked, and we started working again.
We have three goals:
Simplifying the way we work: Our rapid growth has complicated the way we get work done (e.g., unclear sense of belonging, too many shareholders).
Forming a habit of collaboration: We love the moments of releasing cross-products (like League of Legends X Twin Cities, K/DA, Soul Bloom), but we don't yet have the best processes and blocking architectures that naturally support these.
Leading the product vision: We used to invest too much time in focusing on specific things instead of doing things that would open the player's eyes.
In the early years of Riot Games, we were made up of departments (art, planning, products, etc.), which made sense because we only had one core product, and the best way to improve was to focus on the department that helped them improve their game development skills. Over the past few years, we've slowly started to shift to product grouping (League of Legends, esports, LoR, Battle for Two Cities, etc.), and more recently, as we prepare to release our new five-year plan, we've moved completely to the product mix. Five years ago, no one could accurately draw the organizational chart of Riot Games, and we now reduce it to 5 operating groups.
The three groups will focus on products: gaming, esports and entertainment. Each focuses on products that serve players. The others are issuances and conglomerates. The distribution group provides continuous player connections between products and supports global products, while the corporate group supports Riot Games as a whole and makes it as easy as possible to deliver products to players, with the Product and Distribution Group each having its own president and leadership team, while the Entertainment Group is led by the Fist President.
This architecture also applies to the way we work remotely, as I wrote in December 2020, the pandemic has taught us to achieve many goals while collaborating virtually, and many of the elements that make us a fist game cannot be replicated through the screen. As a creative, collaborative, and people-oriented company, truly working together as a team can do a lot of wonders.
We focus on the balance of virtual and face-to-face work as a way to sustain the company culture and community while bringing in the best possible work. When we are finally able to reopen the office, all the Rioters will have 3 days in the office and the other two days will be "flexible work days" where they can continue to work at work at work or back home.
We will continue to open new distribution offices and R&D studios, so global talent who want to become Riot employees can also pay close attention to the opening of Fist offices near them. In 2021, we announced our Seattle and Shanghai R&D studios, with more to come in 2022.
2) Assemble the right team (i.e. culture)
In some games, winning or losing is decided at the beginning. If you don't have the right teammates in your role at any time, you may be doomed to failure from the start.
As we begin to prepare for the next phase of the climb, we begin to think about the skills we need in a certain area, and we realize that the expectation of focusing on a specific person and creating the right spit pair can truly achieve the culture and goals.
In everything Fist does, our guide has always been our goal: to focus on doing the right thing for the player.
As the world and society become more and more diverse, and all companies struggle to maintain their position and form a healthy partnership, we believe that it is now more important than ever to refocus the Fist People on our goals and the reasons for starting the company, and we ask the Fist People to strive to form a Fist game that everyone feels supported. Ideas can be given productive feedback, fists can ask tough questions to form healthy conversations, all of us learn and grow from diverse perspectives, and here we focus on the player without reservation and without mercy.
Our D&I team is also defining strategies for their most impactful work, and this team (including 9 Fist employees and dedicated D & I members) adds a strongly diverse perspective to our performance, compensation, internal investigations and promotion paths, increases performance in the workforce and products, and accelerates the process of making Fist a workplace for everyone. But their work isn't done yet, and looking ahead, they'll expand globally, increase their focus on inclusion, and continue to diversify their talent and players at the junior level across our products.
Finally, we are defining how we communicate with external issues. You'll see that we focus on actions rather than words, which means efforts like the Underrepresented Founders Fund and through the Riot Games Social Impact Fund, rather than statements in black and white on social media.
3) Start a new chapter
During our annual leave, we announced that we have reached an agreement of intent to resolve class actions and California regulatory actions that we have been involved in since 2018. You can see that we have issued an official statement, as well as an internal sharing letter.
As we shared internally with the company, three years ago, Fist Game was at the center of the industry's problems, and since then we've improved a lot, and we've continued to do that every day in terms of our workforce, processes, and leadership.
With us we are proud of the changes that have changed since 2018, but it is important that we are also responsible for the past. Given our ambitious goals for the future and the tens of millions of dollars we put into lawyers' fees each year to solve these cases, we'd rather put money into women in the classroom, into the future of riot games, and what has been clear over the last few months is that there will eventually be a powerful outcome for all.
To be clear, we're not asking anyone to forget the past and move on, on the contrary, the lessons we've learned together over the past few years will be a big part of the history of Fist Games. There are some things we use as lessons to push us forward, to let the people of The Fist Game know what to do to make the company the best place to work.
4) Win-win (salary)
We want to make sure that as we continue to bring magical experiences to players around the world, it's just as important to continue to make employees feel like it's worth it to be a boxer. We want People to love their jobs, but we're not naïve enough to end up doing a job that ultimately depends on how much you pay them and what you get paid for what you do.
We seek to be the highest-paid company in the industry, which means not only being paid more than most game studios, but also going hand in hand with technology, media, sports, entertainment, and other industries.
But if you feel that your company's success is outpacing your own, that's all there is to a good salary and benefits.
Last year we changed the way we paid to ensure that while The Fist game continues to be successful, no Fist man is left behind.
In December, we adjusted our long-term incentive model so that long-term attribution compensation was paid in a lump sum at the end of last year. We also decided to shift our compensation model to focus on long-term corporate value rather than short-term goals such as profitability.
Last but not least, our shareholders (Tencent) endorsed our long-term strategy and returned part of the company's ownership to Riot employees. Looking ahead, Riot players will have the opportunity to own a part of the company and, together with Tencent, can directly participate in the risks and rewards of ownership.
We are climbing to the top of the mountain, and while there are no guarantees, we want to make sure that all those who join us on our climbing journey share the potential success if we can achieve the desired goal.
5) Queue Dodge
For many people, joining The Fist game is a dream job, but sometimes, for various reasons, the dream doesn't want to be as well planned. For many years, we had a project called queue dodge. This project allows all those who joined the fist within half a year to choose to leave independently, and get a salary to help them transform without feeling sad.
As we prepare for the next phase of growth, we open a queue dodge window for all Riot players for a limited time, no matter how long they have been with the company, they are free to choose.
With the planning of our new strategies, the upgrading of our culture, the new compensation and operating model, and the new teams everywhere, we believe that Fist Games is better able to achieve our goals. But some of the boxers don't have that confidence, and they may not be as interested in our strategy or not feel good about our new model. They may not like the cultural changes we've made or want to go back to the office on a flexible plan, or they may use this transition as an opportunity to explore different things outside of Fist Of Fighters.
Colleagues in either of these situations, and people who don't like what we want to do for the player, they don't have to feel bad. We want all Fist players to feel positive, supported and excited about our future climbs.
This new queue dodge project will give the best chance for fist people who want to leave without being questioned. If applicable, the Rioter who chooses to leave can receive 25% of their base salary and apply for a COBRA benefit for 3 months, as well as receive the full benefit, even if they have left before receiving their salary (most offices at the end of March).
No one should feel pressured to stay or leave The Fist Game, and any decision they make is right for themselves. If they're excited about the company going to come and want to stay in the company, that's fine. If they hesitate, then this project makes it easier for them to leave, which is also cool.
2022 and the future
When I first started joining Riot Games, I never thought that anything that had been achieved last year would become a reality. But looking to the future, I hope that all fist gamers can believe in the infinite possibilities of the future as much as I do.
Before I write my closing remarks, I would like to thank all the rioters who have helped us get to this point, partners, sponsors and suppliers who support us. But more than anything else, I want to thank all the players who inspired us so that you can dream bigger, climb higher mountains, and be the most player-focused game company in the world
Nicolo
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