Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » Riot Games http://pulse2.com Sun, 27 May 2012 18:16:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Chinese Internet Company Tencent Invests $400 Million In Riot Games http://pulse2.com/2011/02/05/chinese-internet-company-tencent-invests-400-million-in-riot-games/ http://pulse2.com/2011/02/05/chinese-internet-company-tencent-invests-400-million-in-riot-games/#comments Sat, 05 Feb 2011 20:52:04 +0000 Amit Chowdhry http://pulse2.com/?p=43161 Continue reading →]]>
Tencent is a Chinese Internet company that has invested $400 million in online U.S. gaming company Riot Games. Tencent will be getting a majority ownership in the company as a result.

Riot Games is based in Los Angeles, California. The company sees about 1 million active players that log in about 500 million minutes per month. Through the investment, Riot Games will utilize Tencent resources for expanding worldwide.

“We shared a philosophy and built a mutual respect with Tencent,” stated Riot Games CEO Brandon Beck. “It is an interesting time for games. Social and mobile games are very interesting, but it’s not our focus. We are very focused on core game experiences, which are also evolving from a packaged good to an online service.”

Tencent has 600 million QQ instant messaging service users in China. Previous investors in Riot Games include Benchmark Capital and FirstMark Capital. Riot Games started five years ago and they believed that session-gaming was a trend. This means short games that can be played on a short break. Today the company employs about 150 people.

]]> http://pulse2.com/2011/02/05/chinese-internet-company-tencent-invests-400-million-in-riot-games/feed/ 1 Riot Games Raises $8 Million Series B http://pulse2.com/2009/09/13/riot-games-raises-8-million-series-b/ http://pulse2.com/2009/09/13/riot-games-raises-8-million-series-b/#comments Sun, 13 Sep 2009 20:44:23 +0000 Amit Chowdhry http://pulse2.com/?p=20218 Continue reading →]]> Picture 5
Riot Games is a social game development company that is best known for creating the League of Legends.  Earlier this week Riot Games announced that they have raised about $8 million in Series B.  The investors include Benchmark Capital, FirstMark Capital, and Tencent Holdings.  Rather than making revenue from advertising, Tencent and Riot games depend on the sales of virtual goods.

Riot Games is currently developing an online game platform which is what the funding will go towards.  Considering that Tencent is one of the largest virtual good dealers in China, they may even lend their expertise to Riot Games.  The company is licensing the League of Legends in China and will launch in the country by 2010.

Tencent is the parent company of Internet portal QQ.com.  They sell virtual goods through their portal, IM software, social networks, and games.  These virtual goods include pets, clothing, wallpapers, etc.  Tencent made about $700 million last year according to BusinessInsider.

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