Tag: #riotgames

Ubisoft and Riot Games announce the “Zero Harm in Comms” research project to detect harmful content in game chats

Today, Ubisoft and Riot Games announced the “Zero Harm in Comms” research project, a technological partnership to enhance the reach of their artificial intelligence-based solutions in order to prevent harmful player interactions. This research initiative aims to create a cross-industry shared database and labeling ecosystem that gathers in-game data, which will better train AI-based preemptive moderation tools to detect and mitigate disruptive behavior.

Both active members of the Fair Play Alliance, Ubisoft and Riot Games firmly believe that the creation of safe and meaningful online experiences in games can only come through collective action and knowledge sharing. As such, this initiative is a continuation of both companies’ bigger journey of creating gaming structures that foster more rewarding social experiences and avoid harmful interactions.

“Disruptive player behaviors is an issue that we take very seriously but also one that is very difficult to solve. At Ubisoft, we have been working on concrete measures to ensure safe and enjoyable experiences, but we believe that, by coming together as an industry, we will be able to tackle this issue more effectively.” said Yves Jacquier, Executive Director, Ubisoft La Forge. “Through this technological partnership with Riot Games, we are exploring how to better prevent in-game toxicity as designers of these environments with a direct link to our communities.”

Through the “Zero Harm in Comms” research project, Ubisoft and Riot Games are exploring how to lay the technological foundations for future industry collaboration and creating the framework that guarantees the ethics and the privacy of this initiative. Thanks to Riot Games’ highly competitive games and to Ubisoft’s very diversified portfolio, the resulting database should cover every type of player and in-game behavior in order to better train Riot Games’ and Ubisoft’s AI systems.

“Disruptive behavior isn’t a problem that is unique to games – every company that has an online social platform is working to address this challenging space. That is why we’re committed to working with industry partners like Ubisoft who believe in creating safe communities and fostering positive experiences in online spaces,” said Wesley Kerr, Head of Technology Research at Riot Games. “This project is just an example of the wider commitment and work that we’re doing across Riot to develop systems that create healthy, safe, and inclusive interactions with our games.” 

Still at an early stage, the “Zero Harm in Comms” research project is the first step of an ambitious cross-industry project that aims to benefit the entire player community in the future. As part of the first research exploration, Ubisoft and Riot are committed to sharing the learnings of the initial phase of the experiment with the whole industry next year, no matter the outcome.

To learn more about the “Zero Harm in Comms” research project go to http://www.ubisoft.com/r/Ubisoft_RiotGames_Join_Forces and https://www.riotgames.com/en/news/riot-games-ubisoft-tackling-toxicity-in-games-with-new-project

Riot Games offers 30 community grants to Irish non profit nominated by players

Riot Games announced today the 30 recipients of their $10,000 community grants as a part of Progress Days inspired by Riot’s new TV series, Arcane League of Legends. Throughout the month of November, Riot is uniting its games and products for a global event called RiotX Arcane to bring together players and fans for the launch of the company’s first television series. As a part of the celebration, Riot is honoring the incredible work that these nonprofits are doing all around the world in hopes of inspiring progress.

Over the summer, Riot invited players from around the world to become a ‘force for good’ and nominate a nonprofit and/or a cause area that was important to them. Along with the nomination, players were asked to share a testimonial to explain why this cause was meaningful to them and how it was impacting their local community. Over 19,000 submissions came in from players around the globe and Riot’s social impact team, with the help of their partners ImpactAssets and GlobalGiving, vetted and chose 30 nonprofits to receive $10,000 donations. These high-impact nonprofits support a wide range of countries and cause areas, including an organization from New Zealand that supports community wellbeing and a nonprofit from Brazil that advocates for the rights of people with intellectual disabilities.

“Throughout Riot’s history we’ve seen time and again players come together as one collective community to support the smaller communities they are a part of,” said Jeffrey Burrell, Director of Social Impact. “I want to give the credit where it’s truly due and that’s to the players. It’s really special when we put out a call like this to players and get such an overwhelming response. We couldn’t do this work without them.”

The Riot Games Social Impact Fund is Riot’s nonprofit engine for our collective efforts for global social impact. Through the Social Impact Fund, in partnership with ImpactAssets and managed by GlobalGiving, Riot was able to distribute these grants to over 18 countries around the world. By being able to involve hyper-local NGOs serving local community needs, Riot is able to directly support the causes and interests of their community of players on what matters most to them.

Here are the 30 nonprofit winners:

América Solidaria Argentina, APAE Brasil, Ape Action Africa, Asian American Success Inc., BeLonG To, Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation, Clean Up Australia, Coalition for Rainforest Nations, Cordem ABP, Fundación Aquí Nadie Se Rinde I.A.P, Fundación Minga Valpo , Fundación Superación Pobreza, Genesis Women’s Shelter, Ingenium ABP, Instituto Vovô Chiquinho, LÖSEV, Maslow Project, Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA), Plan International Japan, Prairie State Legal Services, Shatterproof, Société Protectrice des Animaux (SPA), SPEAR Islington (Resurgo), Story Tapestries, The Nature Conservancy, The Table Community Food Centre, Verein für krebskranke Kinder Harz eV,  WAI Wanaka, WaterAid, and World Wildlife Fund-SA.

BelongTO (Ireland)

“The past 18 months have been particularly tough for LGBTI+ young people. Even before Covid-19, LGBTI+ young people experienced a significantly increased risk of depression, anxiety, and suicide ideation. The global pandemic has heightened these mental health challenges, and for many LGBTI+ young people, the past year has been a lonely, anxious time. Earlier this year, 97% of LGBTI+ young people told us for their struggles with anxiety, stress, and depression. We have seen a huge rise in demand for our life-saving support services. With this funding from Riot Games, we can continue to grow and flex to meet the emerging needs of LGBTI+ young people in their homes, schools, and communities. It means so much to us that a member of our community recognized the vital work that we do to support LGBTI+ youth and nominated us for this grant.” – Chris Rowan Fundraising Assistant

The $300,000 in community grants adds to another successful year of social impact. Earlier this year, Riot launched the charitable skin “Elderwood Ornn” and mobilized players to achieve real impact in their own communities while participating in a global event that raised over $7 million for the Social Impact Fund. Also this year, VALORANT held its first in-game fundraiser with a Give Back Bundle which raised over $5.5 million. 50% of the proceeds from weapon skins and 100% from accessories in the Give Back Bundle went towards Riot’s Social Impact Fund to be distributed to various nonprofits. In total, players have raised over $12 million through Riot’s in-game fundraisers for 2021.

Riot Games to Open Remote Broadcast and Content Production Centre (RBC) in Dublin, Ireland

Riot Games announced today that it will open a new Remote Broadcast (RBC) and Content Production Centre in Dublin, Ireland as part of its drive to continuously innovate and advance its digital broadcast and production capabilities for esports as well as super serve players and fans.

Riot Games and its Esports Technology Group (ETG) is growing to enable efficient, game-agnostic production of esports content, through technical innovation, standardized workflows, and shared infrastructure. The RBC in Dublin will be the first of up to three facilities in a global follow-the-sun model, with each RBC having the ability to produce six events simultaneously across production and audio rooms, bullpens and live stages, all built upon a scalable technology backbone for future growth.

Commenting on the announcement, Allyson Gormley, General Manager at Riot Games’ first RBC in Dublin said: “As global esports explodes in popularity, Riot Games finds itself in need of new production and operations workflows that better serve our multi-product future with LoL Esports, VALORANT Champions Tour, Wild Rift Esports, and more. As part of our drive to continuously innovate and advance our digital broadcast and production capabilities, Riot Games is excited to expand our global footprint to include this new Remote Production Broadcast Centre (RBC) in Dublin.”

The new Riot Games RBC will be located in Airside Retail Park, Swords, Co Dublin and will create 120+ jobs across Broadcast Engineering, Production, Control Crew, and Event Production.

The company is supported by the Irish Government through IDA Ireland.

Riot Games have partnered with NEP Ireland to provide technical production staffing and support at the facility in Swords. NEP Ireland is a division of NEP Group, the leading media technology partner for content creators around the globe. Roles will be advertised on www.riotgames.com and www.nepgroup.ie/talent in the coming weeks.

“We are delighted to be working on this project with Riot, further recognising Ireland’s global reputation as a hub for delivering world class production content. This partnership will see us grow and develop our talent base in Ireland and shall provide a great opportunity to attract diverse talent from under-represented backgrounds,” Steve Curran, NEP Ireland.

Welcoming the news Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Leo Varadkar TD said: “This is great news for the esports sector in Ireland. Riot Games is world renowned and the fact that the team has chosen Dublin as one of three locations globally to establish a new Remote Production Broadcast Centre, creating over 120 jobs, is a real vote of confidence in what we have to offer. We introduced a new tax credit as part of the Budget, which will, we hope, encourage the digital games industry to grow here. The very best of luck to the Riot Games team, I wish them every success.”

Riot Games first set up its EMEA Headquarters in Ireland in 2010 and has grown over the past decade to 165 employees in its Dublin city centre office. Up until now, its primary focus was on business operations, engineering, information security, publishing, live services and product development for its games. Alan Bridgeman, Managing Director, Riot Games commenting on Riot’s further investment in Dublin and expanding to a second Dublin location: “We chose Dublin for this strategically important investment because we are confident in the tech talent available, the attractive business environment, and our positive experience of serving our players from across Europe since we first set up here.”

Allyson Gormley, Riot Games closing: “Pulling off a project and build of this magnitude is a colossal undertaking in any circumstance, let alone in a pandemic.”

However, Gormley credits the Riot Games team in Ireland and around the globe for staying focused in order to get the job done. ”We’ve been very lucky to be surrounded by teams, both internally and externally, who have partnered with us to make sure our ambitious goal to stand up this facility by January 2022 could be achieved. From the teams at Henry J.Lyons Architects, Structure Tone GC, Fingal County Council, KMCS, AXIS and DMG Engineering plus NEP to name but a few,  to get to where we are today would simply not have been possible without their partnership. In a nutshell, the innovation and approach to this project speaks to the culture at Riot – we push ourselves further than we are comfortable because we believe when outside our comfort zone that’s when the magic happens. We have one singular mission: we are trying to bring joy to billions of fans around the world. We think this gets us closer to that goal.”

Mary Buckley, Executive Director of IDA Ireland said “Riot Games decision to expand its global footprint to include a new Remote Production Broadcast Centre (RBC) in Dublin marks Ireland’s entry into an exciting new and developing sector and illustrates confidence in Ireland to deliver on its esports capabilities globally. It’s also a strong endorsement of our talented workforce. I welcome Riot Games ongoing commitment to Ireland and wish them every success with their new RBC Centre.”

 

Riot Games – New Tactical Shooter – VALORANT launching on 2nd June #Valorant #Gaming

Riot Games today announced their highly anticipated, character-based tactical shooter video game, VALORANT, will launch for free on June 2, 2020 across the majority of regions worldwide. In the days leading up to June 2, the game’s massively popular closed beta will come to an end on May 28, enabling the team at Riot to reset player accounts, patch new content, and prepare for the beginning of VALORANT’s worldwide launch. Once officially live, fans of the competitive 5v5 tac shooter will start fresh, progressing from the same starting line as they compete with players around the world.

“Our goal has always been to bring VALORANT to as much of the world as soon as possible, so we’re hyped to be able to do so on June 2,” said Anna Donlon, Executive Producer of VALORANT at Riot Games. “The team looks forward to starting our decades-long commitment to servicing the global VALORANT community. This is just the beginning of our journey together.” 

Reinforcing its level of commitment to players, the VALORANT team will deliver new game content, a new game mode, a new agent, and a new map at launch. To meet rising player demand, Riot has also prioritized additional new game server deployments on their short-term roadmap in order to lower latency for VALORANT players; these new server locations include Atlanta, Dallas, London, Madrid, and Warsaw. Earlier, Riot Games demonstrated its commitment to the global community by successfully prioritizing the rollout of VALORANT’s Closed Beta to regions around the world, despite unexpected global deployment challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

For more information about VALORANT, check out www.PlayVALORANT.com.