Riot Games partners with AWS to enhance esports, entertainment experiences
Renowned West Los Angeles-based gaming developer Riot Games has announced a partnership with Amazon’s subsidiary company, Amazon Web Services or AWS, to provide fans with new ways to experience Riot’s hit titles such as League of Legends (Lol), LoL: Wild Rift, and VALORANT. The collaboration will have Riot reinvent how these games are designed and how the studio will roll in future content.
According to AWS’ release, Riot chose the cloud computing company as “its official Cloud Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Machine Learning (ML), Cloud Deep Learning (DL), and Cloud Services provider.” The two will work together to create AWS esports stats, AWS Global Power Rankings, and Pick ’em powered by AWS for future use in the professional esports scene.
Following the partnership announcement, which was released earlier this week on July 18, Riot launched Project Stryker, a remote broadcasts center (RBC) that uses AWS technologies initially made for entertainment purposes of esports and its global fanbase. The gaming developer claims it to be “a series of cloud-first” and multiple “strategically placed” RBCs will be placed around the world, starting from Dublin, Ireland, and in the greater Seattle area.
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Riot president of esports John Needham shared the company’s excitement to collaborate with AWS, praising the cloud computing platform for its “wide-ranging solutions and expertise”, which will allow Riot to enhance the current broadcasting abilities of esports and reach out to global fans.
“Riot Games has a long-term vision to bring joy to billions of fans around the world through our esports, and we’re extremely excited to work with AWS to level up the Riot Esports experience,” said Needham.
“The wide-ranging solutions and expertise of AWS will enhance Riot Games’ esports broadcasts and engage esports fans worldwide. From reimagining how fans view our events and content, to interacting with other players, AWS unlocks endless opportunities for Riot to shape the future of sport.”
Matt Garman, vice president of AWS sales and marketing at Amazon, said that the partnership offers a win-win situation for both parties, and the end result will significantly benefit fans and professional players.
“Our collaboration with Riot Games elevates the entire esports landscape. This is a win, win, win for Riot, AWS, and most importantly fans,” Garman said.
“Tournament viewers and teams can now see in real-time how different lanes, weapons, and abilities could determine who will become champions, similar to the stats used in other sports broadcasts. We look forward to working with Riot to create more immersive entertainment experiences and bring engaging esports content to billions of fans worldwide.”
Additionally, there is Project Stryker — Riot’s upcoming initiative to provide a new entertainment experience for esports fans in multiple areas, including music production, animation, and game development.
Project Stryker has been in active development at the time of writing. Both Riot and AWS’ press releases confirmed that Riot would be using a 50,000-square-foot facility in Dublin and another facility in the greater Seattle area. Both facilities will begin operation “later this year”. Aside from these two locations, Riot also plans to build RBCs around the world.
