Riot Games, developer and distributor of video games known especially for League of Legends, today completed the acquisition of the studio Wargaming Sydney. The studio will be rebranded as Riot Sydney and is a global development powerhouse with experience in creating tools and servers for next-generation game development, globally renowned video games, and some research and development projects, as well as prototypes for new game features, add-ons, and console port adaptations.
"We are truly excited to welcome these talented developers and teams to Riot", said Marc Merrill, President of Games and co-founder of Riot. "The Rioters who had the opportunity to work with the Sydney team have full confidence not only in the technology they’ve developed over the years, but, above all, in the people who created it. Naz (Naresh Hirani, Development Lead, Riot Sydney) and the development team at the studio have a long history in the industry that certifies a working method that will allow Riot to further improve what we offer our players, and we can’t wait to collaborate with them."
The newborn Riot Sydney will leverage its considerable expertise to enhance teams for League of Legends, VALORANT and Riot’s technical staff, and will play a fundamental role in the development studio’s operations under the direction of Molly Mason-Boule, a veteran of the industry and Riot’s Head of Development Studios. Under Molly’s guidance, Riot is expanding its global development approach with the goal, over time, of growing the video game industry in Australia. Additionally, the company will continue to evaluate similar opportunities to bring in expert talent from established studios.
"Over the past 10 years, being part of Wargaming has been an extraordinary journey for us and has helped our studio grow and succeed," said Naz. "We were deeply impressed by the shared values we encountered during our interactions with all members of Riot with whom we have collaborated, and we look forward to putting our skills into global development to serve their teams. I speak for the entire team when I say we are very excited to join Riot and have the opportunity to contribute to offering extraordinary experiences to players."
The development studio is one of the largest in Australia and has worked on World of Tanks, World of Warships and many other titles for console and PC. Bigworld Technology, the acclaimed technology it developed, was the key factor that enabled it to become part of Wargaming in 2012. Prior to that date, Bigworld Technology had contributed to the operation of over 30 MMOs and online games and has also entered the Guinness World Records for the highest number of players online simultaneously on an MMO server. Wargaming will remain the owner of Bigworld Technology and will continue to use it for its own products.
The acquisition comes 10 years after Bigworld’s entry into Wargaming, during which it helped the studio create some of the world’s most popular games. The studio has over 25 years of experience in the video game industry in Australia, and its team has demonstrated that it is one of the most innovative in the region and sector.
The entire development team from the studio will join Riot Sydney, while the current publishing team will remain at Wargaming.
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