Riot Games Modernized Legacy Systems, Enhanced Player Experience

Project Summary

The Client

Riot Games is a leading video game developer and publisher known for creating globally popular titles like League of Legends and Valorant. The company has expanded its influence beyond gaming with the critically acclaimed Netflix series Arcane: League of Legends and operates one of the world’s largest esports ecosystems. Riot’s annual Worlds Championship attracts over 70 million viewers.

The Challenge

Riot Games needed to scale its engineering team quickly to meet the demands of its expanding global player base. At the same time, the team faced the complex task of modernizing legacy systems, including the migration of its Riak database and Solr search engine, while exploring emerging technologies like large language models (LLMs) to enhance localized game content. 

The Services

Since 2012, X-Team has provided Riot Games with more than 120 senior software engineers, bringing expertise in key technologies such as Linux, AWS, Java, Kafka, React, and Gatsby. These engineers integrated seamlessly with Riot’s teams, taking on critical projects that required modernizing legacy systems, building scalable automation tools for game developers, and exploring emerging technologies like large language models (LLMs).

X-Teamers were selected for their technical expertise and shared passion for gaming, ensuring they could align with Riot’s mission to create authentic, player-focused experiences while delivering results in a fast-paced environment.

The Results

Legacy System Modernization

X-Team engineers successfully migrated Riot Games’ Riak database and Solr search engine ahead of schedule. Their work ensured the systems could scale effectively and resolved critical issues tied to outdated technology. This early delivery provided Riot with a solid foundation for continuous innovation.

“We were already in the process of hiring and onboarding X-Teamers, and they not only jumped in on this complex project with very little information about the code, database, and technologies but also helped us deliver it efficiently, way ahead of schedule,” said Himeet Gudkha, Engineering Manager at Riot Games. “I was really worried because of all these unknowns, and I’d already communicated the delay to the stakeholders, but I think X-Team engineers literally went the extra mile and made a really big difference to the team here.”

Faster Content Delivery

By integrating large language models (LLMs) into Riot’s workflows, X-Team engineers enabled faster and more efficient localized content creation. This improvement significantly enhanced SLA performance and accelerated product-to-market timelines. The implementation of LLM technology helped Riot engage its global player base with high-quality, localized experiences delivered more quickly than ever before.

“X-Teamers did an excellent job of discovering the LLM space and delivering the integration with our services,” Gudkha said. “This not only made a huge impact for Riot, especially in delivering quality localized game content, but also resulted in a faster SLA and product to market for Riot Games.”

Enhanced Developer Workflows

X-Team engineers developed scalable automation tools that streamlined workflows for Riot’s game developers. These tools provided faster and easier integration options, reducing development time and increasing overall efficiency. The enhancements allowed Riot’s teams to focus more on creating innovative features, supporting their mission to deliver exceptional experiences for players around the world.

I tell this to everyone, every partner, or every stakeholder, that we have X-Team engineers who are so motivated, and they onboard quickly, looking for ways to add value from day one. I always say it’s very easy to scale software nowadays, but it’s very difficult to scale an organization quickly, and X-Team makes this problem look very easy for us. It’s amazing.

Himeet Gudhka

Engineering Manager, Localization Technology Team