u/dzareth do you guys hire interns? I'm majoring in math and computer science with a concentration in software development. Am I someone that riot would hire?
There is an internship program but it doesn't always have all the roles, also keep an eye out for the "associate" or "entry" level roles. I can't answer anything specific here, but check our careers site is my best advice.
u/Dzareth What do you recommend college students/grads think about/gather experience in when trying to go into a business strategy and advisory role? Also, what does your day to day work look like in such an emerging industry like eSports? Did you have any experience in a more traditional field/industry before riot?
I’m personally going to be starting in big 4 audit & assurance and look to exit into a business strategy/advisory role. Being able to work for the eSports industry in this role is what I’m looking toward so that the work I’m involved in is something I’m passionate about!
I encourage people to do their best in their grades and to be showing impact and leadership. Aim high and get the best job you can, and that is great for you until you land your dream role in the industry.
My background before Riot was at McKinsey, and I work with colleagues who were at one of the big-4s... so work hard, learn as much as you can and keep your focus on delivering value for your clients!
u/dzareth Has there ever been discussion on putting pros like Doublelift on shows like Jimmy Fallon? Or maybe teaching him the basics of League with a charismatic pro like Damonte? I want to see League of Legends grow and it make even more waves in the mainstream... and I think we have some fun and personable pros to do it! Or anyone from Riot really, like Tryndamere?
Yes, we also want League to grow and I'm glad you share our goal. Most of League's most successful growth comes from players telling their friends!
We think a lot about how to encourage interest in the right types of players and in a way which is cost effective too. Over time we are experimenting with different channels. Some channels create a lot of interest, but with players that might not actually want to play League... I think the esports might see us become more and more mainstream, and when K/DA came out the overall interest was much broader than League players.
Hey, and one great bit of news: League is continuing to grow, it's a great time to be playing.
u/RiotDavin I'm not sure if you're the right person to poke about this, it might be u/dzareth later, but I work in continuous improvement and operational excellence with a current focus on manufacturing(Principles tend to transfer well across industries from what I know), is it one of your teams that works on this kind of stuff? Does Riot do CI/OpEx as a dedicated set of goals? If I wanted to work at Riot doing OpEx where would you recommend I look?
I love operations, I had a tonne of enjoyment working on operational efficiency projects in a past set of work experiences.
Depending on what set of skills you have it might apply more to a "dev manager" role--assuming you've got some agile/lean background.
u/dzareth What kind of strategic functions are there to do at Riot? What kinds of opportunities for internships are there for that field? What are some things you need to know in order to fulfill your job (like classes, experience, ect. ect.)? (Sorry if that's too many questions, this topic always interests me and I'm quite curious)
We think about business unit (mostly game) and corporate (company) strategy, or corporate development (like m&a, etc.). We occasionally have internships, keep an eye out.
I think there are many backgrounds, mine was from a management consultancy, but some might come from a corporate strategy team or investment banking, etc. There are a lot of different paths.
riven. i think a good riven player can 1v5 more successfully than anyone. i missed one ban on riven this season and i ended up against a 650k mastery player and
actually i fed pretty hard and our yorick did very well but i'm gonna blame riven anyway
u/dzareth As a green and upcoming data scientist soon to start grad school, is there any advice you would give for someone who is interested in eventually being in the role you're in now (after you've been promoted of course LOL)
I'm very set on wanting to work at Riot, and would love to know if you had any advice for getting noticed.
Thanks again!
I think that people who are committed to great work increase their chances. Get a repo on github, share your projects and models. Solve interesting problems, and basically have fun building models and discovering things.
In terms of how you do what I'm doing today, I spend a lot of my time managing the managers of the people who are doing the core craft work. Management is a completely different skill to doing craft, and I think it's never too early to start thinking about how to help people grow and advance in their careers, but it requires you to also understand their craft.
Generally, how difficult is it to get a job at Riot. I really want to get into the gaming industry and really want to work at Riot but every LinkedIn I look at is people that have been in the industry for 10+ years and have insane credentials.
u/superchIoe, what tools / data analysis methods would you like to see from someone that wants to be part of Riot's data team?
u/dzareth, I currently work in Product Operations for a Silicon Valley F50 software company, how does learning about operations lead into being part of a strategy team?
Follow that dream, and I wish you success.
I can answer the data question: we're looking for knowledge of statistics and logical thinking, SQL, Python if you're an analyst. Data engineering is more Java, data modelling, computer science. Check the career website for more details. Apart from technical skill, analysts are embedded on product teams, and I like to tell my organization "you are game developers first, and second"--or in other words, you exist to make the game of League of Legends better for players, not to make cool decks or fancy spreadsheets.
Depending on what sort of operations... certain types of operations might be more aligned with the "Dev. manager" roles...
It really wasn't that long. But it was pretty smart.
Delete this
/u/dzareth Marc Merrill recently tweeted about Riot‘s approach to analyzing past revenues. I’m wondering what metrics you alternatively use then to measure how well Riot is performing compared to its strategic plan.
Secondly, Riot unveiled a lot of new games recently an a general indication of its strategy within the gaming industry. Geographically, does Riot intend to grow within existing markets or target markets that Riot hasn’t served before?
Last, I’m curious about the seasonality of Riot’s business. AFAIK, most revenues are from the purchase of RP - does this spike significantly close to major holidays? Wondering if your role in strategic finance includes any aspect of variable cash inflows or if that’s relatively consistent.
Thanks!
Hi /u/JA_JA_SCHNITZEL love the questions. Thanks for following it.
We look at revenue-related metrics for sure these are a part of our strategic plan and an important part to managing our operations. But it is not the reason why we exist or our central focus: instead we might focus on numbers of players, player satisfaction, League's new player retention, game hour per account trends, etc. In short the types of metrics that help us to understand player health.
Regarding markets, we're aiming to be the most player focused game company around, and that means for players globally. During our 10th year anniversary we announced that we're adding support for Arabic, for example. League's already a very global game. Apart from geography, I think some of our future titles are aiming to serve the n...
Read moreu/dzareth - I'm potentially looking at a career in finance, currently doing a year's placement inbetween my university courses. How does one get from working financial data, working with sales metrics and all the rest to working for League of Legends, what was your journey to where you are now? Also, what's the best thing at the cafe?
It's all good at bilgewater, I'm a massive coffee afficionado and they make some great espresso. Caffeine somehow has no impact on me, I enjoy the flavor and experience.
There are many backgrounds into Riot, and it depends on the career and leveling--keep an eye out for finance and also analytics roles. Generally speaking my advice is to just do the best you can in your degree and in your work: get great grades, be involved in clubs, network and get to know people.
Before Riot I worked at McKinsey & Company, a consultancy that works for challenging projects for businesses and government. I had been there for about 5 years, and figured that I wanted to pursue my lifelong passion for games. I'm grateful that Riot is the type of company that values broader experience, not just games industry experiences...
I am graduating this semester with a master's in mathematical sciences. I have no interest statistics and very little programming/game design experience.
I have been a gamer my whole life and consider myself keenly aware of 'meta topics' in the industry and public relations. This is what interests me most.
Is there a place at Riot or other major video game companies for someone with my background? I'm picturing some kind of projections analyst, but maybe this is just fantasy.
Edit: u/dzareth, Maybe this question pertains to you?
/u/mombawamba It depends on how little your interest in statistics is! I find that our analytics and data scientists are pretty statistically savvy, even the folks with a physics or math background. (I've heard them say a similar line).
There are definitely roles for people with your background, look at analytics jobs. It's likely to have SQL, python, requirements.
I joined from a non-gaming background, so keep looking!
u/dzareth How does Riot plan to maintain economic growth for League of Legends besides adding new skins and other cosmetics? How does your job specifically impact this process?
Hi /u/olasbondolas, thanks for asking. Economic sustainability philosophy stuff was written about in this article... it covers a lot of the bases.
But, my quick response here is that we think about our revenue as a second-order impact of satisfied players, who have things that they are happy to purchase. If we have a healthy game with happy players and if we understand what those players need the revenue is going to be great. We're involved in the entire process from conception through to assessment of whether we nee...
Read moredo y’all have any information science/ux related collegiate internships open? i’m a rising junior and i’d love to work at riot!! 🥺
u/dzareth or whoever else is in Finance and Accounting:
What does a typical day at Riot look like in the finance department?
What is the range of experience of in the Finance department? I am a couple quarters away from completing my associates degree in Accounting after dropping out of school a while back, and seeing a Staff Accountant listing forever ago was one of my motivations for changing directions. Would there be any finance position available with just an associates degree, or would I have to complete my bachelor's degree to have any chance?
Finally, knowing that Riot provides its employees with free meals, are those meals treated as taxable employee compensation, or considered tax free under the convenience of the employer test?
Hi u/ravenhusky!
Firstly congratulations on finding a career pathway that excites you! Honestly, all sorts of roles open up time-to-time, so closer to the degree ending time check out our careers website and potentially there will be a great fit at that time.
I'm working more in the area related to strategic finance, or in other words finance on products to help ensure that we're running responsibly. There are also corporate level teams that focus on accounting, tax, treasury, purchasing, procurement, fin-ops, ... you know the whole line of finance roles. So the day in the life will be pretty different.
Strategic finance on League is about partnering with teams to help make sure they are making great decisions. Let's say that we're working with a vendor to help us with some cinematics, ...
Read moreIs that because the breadsticks are unlimited, therefore the date never has to end?
look,
Group 2 starts now! Now featuring 100% more localization tech experts, internal tools developers, and ex-Starcraft-pro Lawyers
Is there a penetration testing or app sec type role in riot?
Yes, I work in the application security team. We're actually hiring for a Senior Application Security engineer in Dublin right now! https://riotgames.com/careers
In general the appsec role is a wider than just penetration testing, though
@Rioters Is olive garden a good first date?
if your goal is breadsticks, yes, if your goal is a second date, no
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