Game company Riot Games has announced its plans to establish offices in Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, to expand its market in the region.
In an ABS-CBN News report, the creator of MOBA League of Legends and hero shooter Valorant said this was to bring the company closer to the gamers.
Shinji Komiyama, head of country operations of Riot Games - Asia Pacific, also said they are working on setting this up "in a few months."
Joel Guzman will serve as country manager for Riot Games in the Philippines.
Besides the Philippines and its existing offices in Japan and Singapore, Riot Games will open offices in India, Indonesia/Malaysia, and Thailand.
Alex Kraynov, managing director of Riot Games - Asia Pacific, stated that since the "region is intricately diverse," Southeast Asia has the potential to become the game developer's largest region.
Justin Hulog, general manager of Riot Games - Southeast Asia and Taiwan, stated that the Southeast Asian region played a "critical role" in the firm's expansion plans.
He noted Philippines' and the subregion's influence on the development of League of Legends: Wild Rift, the mobile port of the hit PC MOBA title released in 2020, as well as the release of Filipino Valorant agent Neon in January 2022.
Apart from organizing tournaments for Valorant and League of Legends: Wild Rift, Riot Games expanded into music and film with the creation of the virtual K-pop girl group K/DA and the hit Netflix series "Arcane."
Currently, Singapore-based company Garena is the publisher of League of Legends (with Teamfight Tactics inside the client) in select countries in Southeast Asia as well as Taiwan/Hong Kong/Macau. The rest of Riot-developed games, including Valorant, LoL Wild Rift, and Legends of Runeterra, are handled by Riot Games.
