Riot Games Takes Over Wargaming's Sydney Studio

Riot Games, the renowned developer of League of Legends, has announced the acquisition of Wargaming's Sydney-based development studio. Originally founded in 2002 as BigWorld, the studio has a rich history in Australia and has provided its innovative BigWorld Technology to power over 30 massively multiplayer online (MMO) titles. This technology has achieved a Guinness World Record for hosting the most players online simultaneously on a single MMO server. Wargaming acquired the studio in 2012 for $45 million. Following the acquisition, the studio will undergo a rebranding to Riot Sydney and will focus on contributing to the development of popular Riot titles such as League of Legends and Valorant. The publishing team from Wargaming Sydney will continue to operate under the Wargaming label, while the entire development workforce will transition to become part of Riot Sydney. Molly Mason-Boule, who serves as Riot's head of development studios, will oversee the newly rebranded developer. Marc Merrill, co-founder and president of games at Riot, expressed enthusiasm about the acquisition, stating, 'We are thrilled to welcome these talented developers and teams to Riot.' He added, 'Our team members who have collaborated with the Sydney team are impressed not only by the technology they've developed over the years but, more importantly, by the people behind it.' Wargaming will retain ownership and continue to develop the BigWorld server technology.