Pros: The people who work here are incredibly passionate about video games. Many employees eat, sleep, and breathe League of Legends or other PC games, and the "player perspective" that Riot has as a result of this truly allows us to connect with our players (customers) on the deepest level. An incredibly open, laid-back culture. Things aren't sugar-coated, and you have to have thick skin to work here, but what this means is that if you're doing something that isn't working or is at odds with the culture, you're able to course-correct quickly. "Gamer" humor is injected into most company-wide communications, which helps add to our mantra of "not taking ourselves too seriously." Cross-disciplinary teams are the norm at Riot, and this is one of the most remarkable things about working here. As QA, I have direct access to Design, Engineering, Art, and UX, and can talk to any of them with ease on a daily basis. It prevents scenarios where things are worked on in a vacuum and "tossed over" the wall for QA to check. We're redefining what it means to have test-driven development, and the result on the holistic product quality shows. There's no shortage of work to be done, and if you're a go-getter, you can rise quickly at Riot if you're delivering results and solving perceived problems in ways that add player value. I've been here for quite some time now and have seen people get hired in at very junior-level positions rise to management and product owner roles by identifying problems and working their butts off to solve them.

Cons: As with any company, dominant personalities tend to control most of the decisions that get made at Riot. Once people have established you as someone "junior" on your team, it's difficult to reverse that perception in a way that allows for increased career opportunities. A mantra of many successful companies is to "hire well, fire quickly." Riot has the first part down, but is slow to fire unproductive/unmotivated employees, especially since many Rioters tend to be friends with each other to some degree on their respective teams. It often comes down to 2-3 superstars carrying the load for the team while others are content to do the bare minimum and skate by.

Pros: Teams are truly cross-functional. Because you know everyone on your team is a rock star, it's easy to value and engage everyone's opinion. Everyone here is a gamer. There is no hate for other gaming companies or products. We like good games, and we want to make them and play them. If you are tenacious, honest, and talented, there is a ton of room for career growth, even in the company's post-startup phase. It is not easy or automatic, but the opportunities are there. There's a very entrepreneurial vibe here. See something that needs improvement? Start having conversations and make it happen. There is an open PTO policy, and I am constantly encouraged to take more advantage of it. There is a lot of intellectual desire to be good about work/life balance, but people do get caught up in the presumed importance of what they are doing and forget not to crunch. Sometimes crunch is even necessary, but I've never been on a team where this was true for extended periods of time. In short, Riot wants to have good work-life balance, and the tools are given to everyone to achieve that, but most of us fail to achieve it.

Cons: Because it is highly entrepreneurial, Riot can be an uncomfortable place for people who are not assertive and proactive. Alpha-type dominant personalities have a strong advantage here, and though efforts are made to include less forceful sorts in decision-making processes, they are still often left behind. No one is going to pick you up and put you in the awesome promotion you want. If you want to grow, talk to everyone about it, get allies, get mentors, and shadow people. Be the primary owner of your own growth. It's not likely that anyone else will do this for you. We're still dealing with growing pains and haven't figured out the most effective ways to function at the scale we are at. There is some disorganization, missteps, and overcorrections, but there is also an intense desire to improve and fix those underlying issues.

Pros: It was pretty good, nice people.

Cons: Got laid off. It wasn't great.