Pros
I've been with the company close to 5 years all the way from them being a less than 40 people company up to now more than 1,000 Rioters and while I had multiple (lucrative) offers to leave this is the right place for me to be at. There are a lot of things I just love about this company:
a) Riot puts players first. There's not a single meeting I've been in where an argument about player value didn't trump any business argument standing against it. If it's better for the player, Riot will put their money and time where their mouth is and work on it. As a gamer all my life this is a wonderful position to be in.
b) Riot embraces change. Growing from 40 to over 1,000 people doesn't come without it's share of issues to solve. That means if ever practices are put in place that are harmful to Rioters, the players, or the business itself people are ok with owning up to it and changing it. Since change is welcomed it's also more ok to fail, esp. on the art team where finding the "better" solution can often take weeks of work.
c) Unlimited vacation days - I'm a hard working individual that loves to invest myself into my work, but if life happens (and it will happen) I love that Riot steps up and helps me take care of it. You need to move? Talk to your team, make sure your work is taken care off, and take time off to move. Or you're struck by sickness? Go home, let it heal, come back and don't get everyone else sick (yay, for not getting people sick).
d) Working from home is ok. Since I have a lot of interaction with other artists I need to be in the office a lot, but in general it's ok to take 1 day out of 2 weeks and work from home. This benefits me and other Rioters greatly as it keeps morale high and allows for some concentrated time working at home as well.
e) Riot cares for us. Very decent health coverage, job stability, annual trips (at least so far), countless programs of all kinds (free lunch Tuesday, sport programs etc.)... there's literally too much to do outside of work that Riot takes care off. It feels great to know that they care enough to make these things happen.
f) Rioters work hard... and I would have it no other way. I don't want to be a pencil pusher that clocks in at 9am and can't wait for 5pm to hit. Rioters work hard, they love to play games and laugh, and they love to create awesome stuff... There's a healthy balance (since we are a live game and can't crunch - at least on the art side) of hard work and going home.
g) There's a lot of different initiatives I started since I've been at this company and the fact that Riot embraces this entrepreneurial spirit is awesome. I get bored to do the same thing over and over again for year after year. I need challenges... and with over 70 million players there are lot of challenges and opportunities. Time and again I've suggested or witnessed sometimes crazy ideas and time and again I've seen them being embraced. "Let's try it out" and "well, if you want to spin that up, why don't you?" are common phrases around here... and as long as that's the case I will never get bored around here.
Overall, I can highly recommend this company. If you love games, like to work, love to create and want to have amazing other artists around this is a fantastic place to be at.
Cons
- be expected to perform at a high level on a constant basis. This is not a shop to clock in and out
- Riot has a lot of type A personalities. Don't get discouraged by that, but there are a lot of driven, hard working people here. If that's not your cup of tea you might want to find a calmer job
- as a father of three it's hard to find a good school district close to Riot. I'm hoping for a bus system that reaches further regions like Orange County and Valencia to help with that, but for now I have to commute a lot
- Riot has too much awesome stuff going on - and believe me, you'll feel left out here and there. It's a good problem to have, though, but know that you can't do all self-improvement classes that are offered.
- forgetting top down structures you've might have learned from other companies. Riot likes elf-organized, driven people - that's not a con, per se... but it's something to be aware of before applying
