Pros
- The culture is what I've always wanted. A place where it's cool to be a nerd and people care passionately about what they're working on. People don't ask "do you play games?" but instead as "what games do you play?" I think it would be hard for a non-gamer to feel at home here unless you were highly competitive (e.g. sports) or had another deep passion in a nerdy thing (e.g. comics, harry potter, etc) and could empathize with your coworkers and players. People game LoL and other games during the day at work, which is so awesome. BUT if you don't like games, you might feel resentful of people doing that. - Riot is an inspiring place to be. Leadership continues to impress me with exciting vision and a focus on player value that manages to actually feel true. We have bi-monthly all-company meetings, and I always walk away from those feeling very proud of my place of work. - Learning is highly emphasized, including through many on-site classes that are truly excellent and help me improve in my day to day work as well as things I could take into my next career. - The perks are ridiculously good.
Cons
- Santa Monica is really expensive so it's really hard to find housing nearby, and if you don't live nearby, you've got a long commute ahead of you. - Some people take the perks for granted, or feel like all process is bad so we should do whatever we want, which leads to some entitlement that can be very frustrating. - As a woman, I was really worried about bro culture at Riot. I was happily surprised to find it not the case in general. But there are pockets of bro culture here and there, which can make me feel isolated. Plus it's tough going into a room full of high-powered men (most of the leadership is male) and being strong enough to have a voice. Diversity & Inclusion is something the leadership is taking seriously, but it's got a long way to go.
