{"id":35408,"date":"2018-11-13T19:11:15","date_gmt":"2018-11-14T00:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/"},"modified":"2018-11-13T19:11:15","modified_gmt":"2018-11-14T00:11:15","slug":"open-innovation-for-league-of-legends","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Innovation for League of Legends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(League of Legends World Championship[1]<\/a>)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Riot Games is a rarity in the world of large video game developers \u2013 it only has one game, League of Legends (LoL). Released in 2009, League is a multiplayer online battle arena video game on the desktop gaming platform. The game resembles basketball where 2 teams of 5 players each play against each to capture the flag, with strategy, teamwork, stars, and heroics similarly at play. Riot operates a freemium model where players play the game for free but can purpose optional visual enhancements that do not affect performance. The game is easy to spectate and has attracted a sizeable e-sports following. On November 3, 2018, the Chinese team Invictus defected the European team Fnatic for the 2018 World Championship in front of a sold-out crowd of 50,000 people in Seoul, South Korea. [2]<\/a> Viewership data has not been released yet for the 2018 World Finals but it is expected to surpass 2017\u2019s worldwide viewership (47mm people) and US viewership (2mm people).[3]<\/a> There is an existential question though of whether League of Legends will be sustainably popular or whether it will follow the path of other electronics games in the past and give away to newer game concepts. In this long-term context, it is crucial that Riot utilizes open innovation to support game updates and an ecosystem of players, teams, fans, and platform partners.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Open innovation has been a key part of Riot Games\u2019 development to date. In fact, League of Legends was created as a result of open innovation, with the founders drawing inspiration from a community-created modification to the 2003 Blizzard Entertainment game Warcraft III. [5]<\/a> Currently, Riot leverages open innovation through releasing data and hosting contests for the community. In 2013, Riot released its developer API program to provide game and player data, which led the community to create useful tools and websites like stats site OP.GG and video site Replay.gg. [6]<\/a> In 2016, Riot launched an API challenge for the community to create projects around entertainment, usability, and creativity, some of which were then incorporated into the ecosystem. [7]<\/a><\/p>\n

Additionally, a major contributor to League\u2019s popularity has been the rise of live streaming platforms. Through Amazon-owned Twitch.tv and Chinese platforms like Huya and PandaTV, hundreds of thousands of gamers broadcast themselves playing League to hundreds of millions of viewers, which has dramatically enhanced the game\u2019s popularity. [8]<\/a> In fact, League has been the most watched game on these platforms, with over 1 billion hours streamed on Twitch.tv alone in 2017. [9]<\/a> In the live streaming model, streamers share in the platform\u2019s economics based on number of subscribers or viewers and thus compete against each other, allowing for broad experimentation and proliferation of content.[10]<\/a> Interestingly, Riot Games does not capture any of the direct economics (subscription, advertisement, and micro-transaction revenue) from partner platforms but benefits indirectly from increased popularity of the game. Similarly, many gamers upload League tutorials, replays, or highlights on YouTube and other video channels. Riot\u2019s willing to allow external actors to creatively use and monetize League is a strategic decision to foster content and community innovation in the ecosystem.<\/p>\n

Currently, Riot is utilizing open innovation for the development of its ecosystem but not for the continuous improvement of the game itself. I recommend that Riot allow its community to participate in both idea generation and idea selection for game updates. On idea generation, Riot should run additional contests regarding potential innovations such as new playable characters, new rules, or even potential new spin-outs of the game. For distributed innovation systems, the more granular and diverse the tasks, the larger the pool of participants so the contests should be focused on specific ideas.[11]<\/a> [12]<\/a><\/p>\n

For idea selection, Riot should allow its community to vote on critical product changes. Companies ranging from Zara to LEGO to Walmart are already utilize polling of customers for decision making. [13]<\/a> This polling would benefit Riot in two ways \u2013 giving outside perspective early in decision making and simultaneously engaging the ecosystem. On the latter, we know that a strong sense of identity and community belonging motivates distributed innovation participation. [14]<\/a> The act of participating can also be empowering though and increase sense of community in a virtuous cycle.<\/p>\n

Riot Games has successfully leveraged open innovation in ecosystem development and can complement that with open innovation in game updates. An open question is whether Riot\u2019s focus on a single game can successfully compete in the long-term with the innovation potential of a multi-game company like Valve (which developed League\u2019s primary competitor DOTA2 and distributes 3rd party games through its Steam platform[15]<\/a>)? Can any one video game, however managed, truly have the longevity of basketball?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Word Count: 781 words<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Riot Games, cited in Goslin, Austin, \u201cLeague of Legends\u2026\u201d, August 23, 2018, https:\/\/www.riftherald.com\/lol-worlds\/2018\/8\/23\/17718838\/worlds-2018-league-qualified-teams-seeds, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Chen, Celia, \u201cLeague of Legends World\u2026,\u201d Oct 26, 2017, https:\/\/www.scmp.com\/tech\/china-tech\/article\/2117163\/league-legends-world-finals-tickets-gone-seconds-showing-how-e, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Erzberger, Tyler, \u201cWhich League\u2026,\u201d Nov 1, 2018, http:\/\/www.espn.com\/esports\/story\/_\/id\/25143635\/ranking-league-legends-world-championship-final, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Source via Statista, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Atkinson, Ryan, \u201cHow Warcraft 3 Mods Paved the Way for League of Legends and Dota 2,\u201d https:\/\/www.pcgamesn.com\/warcraft-iii\/warcraft-3-mods-dota-league-of-legends<\/a>, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Riot Games, \u201cThe Riot Games API: Goals and Design,\u201d April 11, 2016, https:\/\/engineering.riotgames.com\/news\/riot-games-api-goals-and-design, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Riot Games, \u201cAPI Challenge 2016 Winners,\u201d https:\/\/na.leagueoflegends.com\/en\/news\/community\/contests\/riot-games-api-challenge-2016-winners, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Huya, \u201cHuya Reports Second Quarter,\u201d August 13, 2018, http:\/\/ir.huya.com\/2018-08-13-Huya-Reports-Second-Quarter-2018-Unaudited-Financial-Results, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Source via Statista, accessed Nov 2018.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> K. Boudreau and K. Lakhani, \u201cHow to manage outside innovation,\u201d MIT Sloan Management Review 50<\/em>, no. 4 (Summer 2009): 68\u201376.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> \u00a0K. Lakhani and J. Panetta, \u201cThe principles of distributed innovation,\u201d Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization <\/em>2, no. 3 (Summer 2007): 97\u2013112.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> K. Boudreau and K. Lakhani, \u201cUsing the crowd as an innovation partner,\u201d 性视界 Business Review <\/em>91, no. 4 (April 2013): 61\u201369.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> A. King and K. Lakhani, \u201cUsing open innovation to identify the best ideas,\u201d MIT Sloan Management Review <\/em>55, no. 1 (Fall 2013): 41\u201348.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> K. Lakhani and J. Panetta, \u201cThe principles of distributed innovation,\u201d Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization <\/em>2, no. 3 (Summer 2007): 97\u2013112.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino, and Bradley Staats, \u201cOpening the Valve: From Software to Hardware (A),\u201d HBS No. 9-415-015 (Boston: 性视界 Business School Publishing, 2015).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of millions of people play and watch League of Legends. Will the game will be sustainably popular (like basketball) or will it follow the path of other electronic games in the past and give away to newer concepts? In this long-term context, it is crucial that the game developer utilizes open innovation to support game updates and an ecosystem of players, teams, fans, and platform partners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11846,"featured_media":35472,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[5023,5025,4239,5024,2164],"class_list":["post-35408","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-sports","category-league-of-legends","category-open-innovation","category-riot-games","category-video-games","hck-taxonomy-organization-riot-games","hck-taxonomy-industry-video-game","hck-taxonomy-country-united-states"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/rc-tom-challenge-2018\/","yoast_head":"\nOpen Innovation for League of Legends - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Open Innovation for League of Legends - Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Hundreds of millions of people play and watch League of Legends. Will the game will be sustainably popular (like basketball) or will it follow the path of other electronic games in the past and give away to newer concepts? In this long-term context, it is crucial that the game developer utilizes open innovation to support game updates and an ecosystem of players, teams, fans, and platform partners.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Technology and Operations Management\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/league-finals-2.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1820\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1213\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\\\/\",\"name\":\"Open Innovation for League of Legends - Technology and Operations Management\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/league-finals-2.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-14T00:11:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/league-finals-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/4\\\/2018\\\/11\\\/league-finals-2.png\",\"width\":1820,\"height\":1213},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Submissions\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/submission\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Open Innovation for League of Legends\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/\",\"name\":\"Technology and Operations Management\",\"description\":\"MBA Student Perspectives\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"性视界Action\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/d3.harvard.edu\\\/platform-rctom\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Open Innovation for League of Legends - Technology and Operations Management","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Open Innovation for League of Legends - Technology and Operations Management","og_description":"Hundreds of millions of people play and watch League of Legends. Will the game will be sustainably popular (like basketball) or will it follow the path of other electronic games in the past and give away to newer concepts? In this long-term context, it is crucial that the game developer utilizes open innovation to support game updates and an ecosystem of players, teams, fans, and platform partners.","og_url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/","og_site_name":"Technology and Operations Management","og_image":[{"width":1820,"height":1213,"url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/league-finals-2.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/","name":"Open Innovation for League of Legends - Technology and Operations Management","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/league-finals-2.png","datePublished":"2018-11-14T00:11:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/league-finals-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/11\/league-finals-2.png","width":1820,"height":1213},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/open-innovation-for-league-of-legends\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Submissions","item":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Open Innovation for League of Legends"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/#website","url":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/","name":"Technology and Operations Management","description":"MBA Student Perspectives","potentialAction":[{"@type":"性视界Action","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/35408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/hck-submission"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11846"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hck-submission\/35408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}