Riot Games' League of Legends is, by multiple accounts, the most-played video game in the world. The free-to-play game, a so-called multiplayer online battle arena game, or MOBA, launched in 2009 and has over 70 million registered gamers with some 32 million playing on a monthly basis.

    Even in the overnight hit-prone video games business, that is startling growth. What's going on?

    Riot Games was founded by Marc Merrill, who serves as president, and Brandon Beck, the firm's CEO. Beck is a former strategy consultant for Bain & Company where he specialized in media and entertainment and private equity. Merrill is a former analyst at US Bank and corporate marketing manager at Advanstar Communications. They are both die-hard gamers. Riot was created with the intent of putting a new spin on the emerging MOBA genre that had spun off of modifications of Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) StarCraft and WarCraft. "With League of Legends, we really wanted to differentiate across four primary dimensions: gameplay, community, e-sports, and intellectual property," says Merrill.

    One key to the success these two entrepreneurs have had globally is the fact that the game is free. It was one of the early games out of North America to be designed to allow free access to all the content and offer paid micro-transactions for new in-game characters, called Champions, and other content. "When Marc and I founded Riot, most gamers were being asked to pay $60 for a traditional game-in-a-box to be played on consoles or PCs," says Beck.

    Now free apps dominate the mobile and tablet stores, and free trials are commonplace even in hardcore genres, he argues. "Many traditional MMO subscription games have converted to free-plus-upgrades," Beck points out, "and many important new games are launching free. Over the last eight years, there's been a real revolution."

    Although Chinese technology giant Tencent paid $400 million for a majority stake in Riot Games in February 2011, the company has maintained its independence. With over 700 employees in North America and another 300 around the globe focusing on expanding the game world, Riot's founders have utilized their growing fan base to improve the game experience. "The free-to-play model only works when you're giving players content and services they value, so we're really kept on our toes," says Beck. "Players aren't shy about telling us when we've screwed up."

    Merrill and Beck don't have separate offices inside Riot's Santa Monica offices. They sit nestled among the other game developers and are accessible to employees as well as to the gaming public. They keep things interesting at work through internal hackathons, called Thunderdome. "One of the most important values is challenging convention, so we often give this award to someone who's challenged constraints -- someone who's broken rules, conventions, and bureaucracy to accomplish something exceptional," says Merrill.

    Riot Games游戏公司的多用户版《英雄联盟》（League of Legends）是全世界玩家最多的游戏。这款免费游戏是所谓的多人在线竞技（multiplayer online battle arena）游戏，或简称为MOBA。2009年推出后，《英雄联盟》现在拥有超过7,000万个注册用户，其中约3,200万用户每个月都会玩。

    就算在很容易一夜爆红的游戏业，这也是让人震惊的高速增长了。它的成功秘诀何在？

    马克•梅林和布兰登•贝克是Riot Games的两位创始人，现在分别担任公司的总裁和首席执行官。贝克曾是贝恩公司（Bain & Company）的战略咨询师，专攻媒体、娱乐和私募基金行业。梅林曾是美国银行（US Bank）的分析师，也曾任Advanstar Communications公司的企业营销经理。他们俩都是铁杆游戏迷。Riot创立的初衷是在新兴的MOBA领域打造能引导业界潮流的新款游戏。当时，这个领域已诞生了动视暴雪公司（Activision Blizzard）的《星际争霸》（StarCraft ）和《魔兽争霸》（WarCraft）等力作。梅林称：“凭借《英雄联盟》，我们是想在游戏情节、游戏社区、电子竞技和知识产权这四个方面展现自己的特色。”

    这两位创业家能在全球大获成功的关键因素是，这款游戏是免费的。它是最早由北美出品的几款可免费获得所有内容的游戏之一，并而且还能提供新加入游戏的角色，即所谓的“英雄”（Champions）和其他内容的付费微交易。贝克称：“马克和我创办Riot的时候，绝大多数玩家还得花上60美元，才能在游戏机或个人电脑上玩传统的盒装游戏。”

    他还说，现在手机和平板电脑早已是免费游戏的天下，甚至在发烧级游戏中免费试玩版也是家常便饭。他指出：“很多传统的大型多人在线游戏（MMO）已变成了免费加升级的模式。还有很多重磅新游戏都是免费发布的。过去八年间，游戏业确实经历了一场革命。”

    中国科技巨头腾讯公司（Tencent）2011年2月斥资4亿美元购买了Riot Games的大部分股份，但这家公司还是一直保持着独立性。凭借致力于开拓游戏世界的700多名北美员工和约300名遍布全球的员工，Riot的创始人充分利用人数不断增长的粉丝群改善游戏体验。贝克说：“只有给玩家他们认为有价值的内容和服务，免费模式才能奏效，所以我们一直忙个不停。一旦我们搞砸，玩家是不会放过我们的。”

    在Riot位于圣塔莫尼卡的办公室内，梅林和贝克并没有属于自己的独立办公室。他们就紧挨着游戏开发人员办公，员工和游戏玩家都很容易找到他们。他们通过称为Thunderdome的内部编程马拉松（hackathon）让工作充满乐趣。梅林说：“我们最重视的价值之一就是挑战传统，所以我们会把这个奖颁给挑战种种限制的人，就是那些通过破坏既定规则、传统和官僚主义来实现不同凡响的成就的人。”

    Beck says that while a lot has changed in the game industry since Riot was founded, one thing remains the same -- the importance of an excellent player experience. If a company delivers that, he promises today's gamers will respond pretty much like gamers always have -- with lots of enthusiasm. They'll tell their friends about the game, too.

    "What's new are the potential distribution choices," said Beck. "Should companies try to self-publish? What's the role of a publisher anyway in today's market? A big contributor to where we're at today was the choice to self-publish. There have been fewer intermediaries and communication barriers between Riot and players."

    Riot has also invested millions of dollars in electronic sports, or e-sports, turning League of Legends into an international spectator sport and propelling professional gaming into the stratosphere with huge numbers of live-streams. Riot's League of Legends Championship Series is currently in its third year, offering fans another way to experience and stay connected with the game.

    Now Riot will have to keep on its toes as competition in the genre heats up. Powerful firms like Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment, Zynga (ZNGA) and Blizzard are all going after League of Legends' success. Such is the peril of being number one.

    贝克表示，尽管自Riot创立以来游戏业已发生了翻天覆地的变化，但有一样东西却始终如一：那就是玩家体验的重要性。如果哪家公司能提供这种体验，那他可以打包票现在的玩家也会一如既往地热情追捧，而且他们还会向自己的朋友卖力介绍这种游戏。

    贝克说：“现在的新情况是：出现了各种潜在的发行渠道。游戏公司应该尝试自行发行吗？今天这个市场中出版商还有什么作用？推动我们发展到今天这个地位的重大因素正是可以自行发行。现在在Riot和玩家之间的中间商和沟通障碍都减少了。”

    Riot还在电子竞技领域投入了上百万美元，把《英雄联盟》变成了一项引人瞩目的国际赛事，并通过大量流媒体播放将职业游戏推向最高水平。现在Riot的“英雄联盟系列锦标赛”（League of Legends Championship Series）已举办到第三届了，为粉丝们提供了另一条体验、接触这款游戏的途径。

    随着这类游戏的竞争进入白热化，Riot必须加快脚步、奋力迎战。华纳兄弟互动娱乐公司（Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment）、社交游戏公司Zynga和暴雪公司（Blizzard）这些业界巨头们正纷纷紧追《英雄联盟》成功的脚步，投身这场竞争。而这正是成为业界老大后必须面对的挑战。（财富中文网）

    译者：清远