Enjoy the honeymoon...
Pros
TLDR: You are surrounded by very talented people, many of which really care about our players. The core values of the company are truly awesome. Flexible Time off is great, use it. The regional autonomy model can be very empowering. Great if you are a single guy in your 20s Breakdown: Riot can be one of the best places you ever work at. Make sure you quickly understand which core values the company is living versus ones they are aspiring to (A.k.a. they are very hit or miss on) and you won't be let down. If you are working on something of high value and focus viciously on it, you will succeed. If you succeed, promote it internally through Taste-the-Riot and Show &Tell and you will be given more opportunities to do so. There are many amazing opportunities to learn from the best talent in the industry and if you have a role which touches the game you will feel part of delivering a great game to a passionate player base which idolizes you for the most part. It can feel really great to see how much appreciation players have for your work all over the world. If you care about making players delighted, this is the right place for you. Some of the benefits are great. Use them as much as you can since they are a pretty big part of your compensation. Riot is very strategic with its perks, but if you are single and in your 20s you can really capitalize on a gig from Riot. Participate in all the social clubs, spend time at the office or with your office pals, learn Kickboxing, do Yoga, learn to swing dance, go our drinking, go to the gym, etc etc etc. Some departments and regional teams have true autonomy. If you are in one of these places, capitalize on this and leverage your creativity and talent to make incredible things happen. The budget is more of a guideline anyway so just make sure that enough player value is delivered and you are golden. If you are not in one of these places find a way to get in with one of the decision makers (your colleagues can tell you easily who those are). Be sure to also find out which groups require you to work unacceptable hours and just avoid them unless you are a masochist.
Cons
TLDR: Like with Amazon.com, if you want the truth, look over the negative reviews and filter for common sense Clear nepotism and favoritism at the highest levels of the org causes a lot of morale issues Barracks-like harassment and discriminatory language are the norm in some groups Snake pits are cleverly disguised as blueberry bushes, trust no one Relationships are way more important than intelligence / aptitude. If you are looking for feedback, coaching or mentor-ship beyond entry level, wrong place for you Compensation for some roles is abysmal for the cost of living in Santa Monica Breakdown: Riot solicits reviews from people frequently for this site. given that your first 3 months are a great period of glee and high-fives and that they are hiring like mad, not surprised by the positive skew. The honeymoon is great in many ways, however I would suggest looking over all the negatives, this is where you can get to the meat of what the issues are. Some may not bother you or affect you, in which case Riot is perfect! Whether the place tries to be a meritocracy or not, having a sibling run part of your company is going to cause issues, especially when he is abrasive and unable to show anyone else who is not on the Board any professional courtesy. To make matters worse you have rude and incompetent people being rewarded and allowed to fail repeatedly while other teams have to re-explain the reasoning behind projects over and over after a proven record of success. All this leads to spotty morale for people who are passed the aforementioned "honeymoon" stage. If you have sensitivity to bro-ish behavior, crude jokes about gender, ethnicity, age and trolly harassment you should avoid Riot. These are part of the culture in most of the teams except data science and art. The organization has many people who will smile to your face and then stab you in the back when it will bring them even a slight bit of advancement. This is not a problem if you are fiercely competitive and assume this going in, however if you are not a fan of this kind of environment it can be very disheartening, especially in a culture priding itself on transparency and feedback sharing as well as friendliness. Figure out who the key people are, build relationships with them and make them feel that you are indispensable for their success. This will pay you way more dividends than competence or aptitude. Granted, relationship management is a key part of succeeding at a job, the skew however for Riot is far more towards relationships and popularity with the right clique. Finally, if you are single and willing to room with others or if you are hired as a senior leadership you may be able to afford living in the area. Outside this make sure you are not captured by the glitz and glamour of the local entertainment or you will be in debt in no time.
