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Set to open in Swords in 2022, the new production centre will be the first of up to three facilities worldwide.
Riot Games, the video game developer behind League of Legends, is set to put e-sports in the spotlight at its very own remote broadcast and content production centre in Dublin.
This will be the first in what Riot Games plans to be a network of up to three such e-sports broadcast facilities globally. The plan is to ‘follow the sun’ with production centres stationed across global time zones, with each one able to produce six events simultaneously.
These broadcast centres will comprise production and audio rooms, bullpens and live stages. They will be equipped with digital broadcast and production capabilities tailored for e-sports, with Riot Games’ e-sports technology team providing the technical backbone.
‘Pulling off a project and build of this magnitude is a colossal undertaking in any circumstance, let alone in a pandemic’
– ALLYSON GORMLEY
Riot Games already hosts an annual world championship for its multiplayer online battle game, League of Legends, which is one of the world’s most played games. These LoL Worlds are said to attract the largest audience of any e-sports tournament. However, the broadcast facility in Dublin is planned to be game-agnostic, so it is expected to host events for more than just one title.
Allyson Gormley, who leads global e-sports and EMEA operations for Riot Games in Dublin, has been appointed general manager of the new facility. “As global e-sports explodes in popularity, Riot Games finds itself in need of new production and operations workflows that better serve our multi-product future,” she said.
The broadcast centre will be located in Airside Retail Park in Swords, Co Dublin. It is expected to be up and running by January 2022.
“Pulling off a project and build of this magnitude is a colossal undertaking in any circumstance, let alone in a pandemic,” said Gormley.
‘This is great news for the e-sports sector in Ireland’
– LEO VARADKAR
Founded in 2006, California-headquartered Riot Games has operated its EMEA HQ from Ireland since 2010. It has 165 employees in its Dublin city centre office working across business operations, engineering, information security, publishing, live services and product development.
More than 120 jobs in broadcast engineering, production, control crew and event production will now be added to staff the new centre. These jobs will be posted on the Riot Games website and through production company NEP Ireland.
Riot Games MD Alan Bridgeman said Dublin was selected for this 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”.
The investment is supported by the Government through IDA Ireland. Mary Buckley, executive director at IDA, said that this announcement “marks Ireland’s entry into an exciting new and developing sector”.
Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, TD, echoed this statement saying: “This is great news for the e-sports 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.”
Recently, the Government announced a new tax credit for the gaming sector in order to encourage the digital games industry in Ireland.
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