Player-focused strategy in times of crisis

About Marc Merrill

Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Riot Games

Marc Merrill is the Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, and former Co-CEO of Riot Games, the game developer and publisher behind League of Legends, Valorant, Legends of Runeterra and Teamfight Tactics. Marc co-founded Riot – along with Brandon Beck – in 2006 with the vision and commitment to drastically change the way video games are developed, delivered, and supported for players.

Since then, he’s helped League of Legends become the most-played online game in the world and the world's largest esport with over 100m monthly active players. Riot continues to uphold their "player first" vision by devoting the entire company's activity around prioritizing the player experience, and has been acclaimed for its focus on balanced game design, community engagement, and pioneering work in establishing games as a service. Riot Games is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA and has ~2,500 employees across 23 offices around the world to support players globally and was recognized by Forbes as the 13th best company to work for in 2015.

Marc is also active outside of Riot and serves on the board of several non-profit organizations, including: Unite America, focused on addressing the polarized gridlock in Washington; City Year Los Angeles, focused on lowering the dropout rate in the worst performing schools in the nation's toughest neighborhoods; Represent.US which seeks to eliminate corruption in American politics and the Seal Family Foundation. Marc has also been recognized with several awards such as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, several Game Developers Choice Awards and a BAFTA.

Marc lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Ashley Merrill, the Founder and CEO of Lunya and two children. Outside of work, Marc enjoys having fun and challenging himself with games, sports, philosophy and great friends.