Esports firm Riot Games to create 120 jobs in Dublin

Video-game enthusiasts play League of Legends game by Riot Games. Photographer: Jean Chung/Bloomberg

Californian company Riot Games is expected to hire and additional 120 people at its new remote broadcast centre in Dublin.

The centre, which is being called Project Styker, will be located in the company's European headquarters in Swords Co Dublin in the former Wright Venue nightclub.

The nightclub was sold to Riot Games last year and the gaming firm is reported to pay approximately €1.3m for the space.

Project Stryker was developed by Riot Games to scale production for Riot’s growing competitive esports offering. The company plans to open two other similar centres in the US and Asian Pacific region.

“Dublin is an ideal location to support this growth-with an exceptional talent pool, ease of doing business and key strategic position making it the perfect hub for the first of the Riot Games trio of RBCs,” said Allyson Gormley, Project Stryker general manager.

The California-based company makes games like League of Legends and has 3,000 employees in 20 offices worldwide. It currently employs 165 people in Dublin.

The esport’s industry is expanding rapidly with current projections that the sector will hit almost €1.7 billion in 2022. Riot Games has approximately 145 million customers.

“The esports sector is an exciting and expanding sector and the establishment of this RBC demonstrates the confidence that Riot Games has in Ireland as a location in which to develop global capability in this space,” said James Farrell, manager of IDA Ireland’s content, consumer and business services division.