Why Riot Games isn’t sold on in-game ads as other developers try to win over this type of marketing spend

September 6, 2023  •  3 min learn  •  By Alexander Lee

But in spite of the bonanza of model exercise surrounding video games, Riot Games has largely prevented integrating manufacturers immediately into common titles such as “League of Legends” and “Valorant.” Thus far, the one exception was the developer’s collaboration with Louis Vuitton in 2021, which allowed gamers to obtain limited-edition in-game character skins emblazoned with the style model’s brand — and even this choice raised hackles amongst some decision-makers at Riot.

“Not all of Riot felt great about it, and not all of Riot understood,” mentioned Riot vp of international esports publishing Dan Sutton. “Louis Vuitton is a very desirable brand in China and Europe, two regions that fully understood what that was. Some other regions did not understand what that was — like, ‘why would you do this?’”

There are a number of elements behind Riot’s reluctance to dive into the deep finish of in-game model integrations.

As Riot experiments with completely different income streams, its monetary state of affairs helps act as a buffer for these huge choices. Despite posting its first-ever quarterly income decline final 12 months, Riot remains to be backed by the Chinese mega-conglomerate Tencent, and its esports leagues boast extra big-name advertisers than these of rivals such as Activision Blizzard. For the second, Riot isn’t strapped for money, not like some of the sport developers shifting to carry manufacturers in-game extra aggressively.

Financial strengths however, maybe essentially the most vital issue behind Riot’s strategy to in-game model integrations is the corporate’s predilection with the participant expertise. “League of Legends” and “Valorant” have drawn in lots of of tens of millions of gamers, and something that interferes with the video games’ fantasy worlds might disturb that delicate stability. 

“For us, that is sacred; that is the reason players trust us. We pass up on brand partners often, and we do it because it may not make sense to our players,” mentioned Riot president of international publishing Ryan Crosby. “So there could be a world in which we find the right brand with the right intent, but I don’t think we would jump in with both feet — I think we’d work our way in there slowly.”

Another issue contributing to Riot’s relative dearth of in-game model integrations is the corporate’s wide selection of stock, such as its distinguished esports enterprise. The in-person venue of final month’s “Valorant” championship in Los Angeles featured Mastercard branding, as nicely distinguished mentions of manufacturers such as Red Bull and Amazon Prime throughout notably hype moments.

“They are really focused on selling the inventory in esports — you’ll see the Rift banners for events for ‘League of Legends’ — and that makes more sense, right? Fans of the community may not love it, but they understand that partnerships are a big deal,” mentioned Chris Mann, svp of the company Rev/XP. 

Riot’s present strategy to in-game model integrations won’t final ceaselessly. As manufacturers more and more view gaming as a approach to attain a big and numerous group of customers, they’re possible to proceed requesting in-game integrations into Riot’s video games, whether or not the developer likes it or not. And Riot’s in-game model integration was profitable: the True Damage Senna Prestige Edition pores and skin, one of the Louis-Vuitton-emblazoned character skins from 2021, was “League of Legends’” most-redeemed status character pores and skin of all time, in accordance to inner knowledge shared with Digiday by Riot Games.

“We want to think about what’s going to really resonate with our players — how can we make that make sense with the player experience, with the game experience,” mentioned Riot Games vp and head of video games publishing Sarah Schutz. “We look for partners where we can really co-create something together, so it’s not transactional. Instead, we’re like, ‘what new experience could we create together?’”

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