According to an announcement on Riot Games' official website, the developer of League of Legends was acquired by Chinese telecommunications company Tencent. Until last week, Tencent was Riot Games' majority owner, meaning it held most of the company's shares, but it has now bought the rest.
The acquisition brought several benefits to Riot Games employees, who can now count on a “cash incentive program so that Rioters can share in the company's success.” Other advantages include higher salaries, health insurance, learning programs, and a “gaming allowance” for employees to buy games.
The value of the transaction was not disclosed.
Riot Games - A Success Story
The company was founded as an indie game developer in 2006 by Brandon “Ryze” Beck and Marc “Tryndamere” Merrill in Los Angeles. In October 2009, they released their first game: League of Legends, which was free to play but had a microtransaction system.
After achieving great success, League of Legends managed to accumulate 32.5 million players in just two years. That number increased to 67 million in January 2014, with 27 million playing the game daily. In Taiwan, an estimated 5% of the population plays League of Legends.
League of Legends is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) inspired by Defense of the Ancients, which is a modification of Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne. Basically, you control a “champion” with unique abilities and fight other players or the computer. In most cases, the goal is to destroy a structure belonging to the opposing team known as the “nexus.”
