The “s” at the end of Riot Games ($PRIVATE:RIOTGAMES) used to be the butt of jokes. The developer had a lone crown jewel in League of Legends, a free-to-play PC game that has generated billions of dollars in revenue and is one of the most popular games in the world.
But with three new titles under its belt in less than a year, the gaming giant has more than accounted for its final consonant. Riot is pumping out new games and seeing the benefits reflected in its alternative data.
The mobile version of auto-battler Teamfight Tactics has steadily grown on the App Store since its release in March, and our first chart tracks the total number of ratings submitted for the app in the Google Play store - it has also earned high marks from users, so far.
With Riot’s tight grip on the PC gaming market, it was only a matter of time before it expanded into other platforms — particularly mobile, given parent company Tencent’s large ownership stakes in major developers like Supercell, Glu, and Miniclip.
But Riot still isn’t loosening up on PC games; Its much-anticipated shooter VALORANT released in closed beta on April 7th, and in a viral marketing scheme only gave players a chance at access if they watched streamers playing on Twitch.
As a result, VALORANT has surged on Twitch, spiking to nearly 1.5 million peak concurrent viewers on its first day and drawing over one million viewers eager for access a full week after its release. Over a month later it remains one of the most-viewed games on the platform. And this is before the June 2nd official release date, which should only propel it further into popularity.
But this isn’t all Riot has up its sleeve: In an October video celebrating 10 years of LoL, Riot announced four other projects across multiple platforms for upcoming releases.
More games mean more hands on deck, and Riot’s Linkedin headcount has had 200 new faces join its ranks, a 5.2 percent increase since January.
This deluge of high-profile releases has bolstered Riot’s social metrics, too. The release of VALORANT gave Riot’s Twitter account a 100,000 follower boost in the days after its release, and even LoL’s following is still on a gradual incline.
It took Riot 10 years to expand outwards — but now that it has, its roll isn’t slowing anytime soon.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.