Building Riot Games & an Esports Ecosystem with Marc Merrill and John Needham

06/16/20 • 36 min

Chris Hana speaks to Marc Merrill, Co-Founder of Riot Games, to understand why Riot Games was built and how the founders Marc and Brandon convinced investors to fund their idea. The two are joined by John Needham, global head of esports at Riot Games, to explore how Riot Games was able to built the groundbreaking esports ecosystem for League of Legends we can see today. Pop-culture integrations, league structures, live events and more come up as well.

Previous Episode

Trailer: Conquering Geek Culture

Next Episode

The Rise of Esports & Investing in the Industry‘s Growth

Jens Hilgers is a founding partner of BITKRAFT Esports Ventures and the co-owner of esports team G2 Esports. He joins Chris Hana to talk about his journey through the esports industry, which started before 2000. They discuss what made the esports industry grow, how Hilgers worked his way through a fast-growing and ever-changing environment, and how he looks at esports today, providing insights from his angle as an active investor.