Riot Games announced that it has signed a multiyear partnership with Spotify, making the worldwide service the official audio streaming partner for League of Legends esports global events.
“Our partnership with Riot Games will create a first-of-its-kind audio universe for the millions of Spotify and League of Legends fans across the globe,” Spotify’s June Sauvaget said. “As the exclusive—and first-ever—global audio service partner for League of Legends Esports, we plan to create the best possible audio streaming experience for our users, making discovering both music and podcasts easier than ever before.”
With this partnership, Spotify and Riot will produce a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Worlds anthem. They will also develop various podcasts, including one called “Untold Stories: Top Moments from Worlds,” which will highlight one story from each year of Worlds.
“Music and story-telling have become an intrinsic part of our sport and game, so we are excited to partner with Spotify to provide our fans with another platform where they can enjoy a new manifestation of League of Legends esports,” Riot’s head of global esports partnerships Naz Aletaha said.
Spotify will also release curated playlists inspired by the League community, and launch a new League Esports Music Hub. Spotify also will serve as the presenting partner of every game five that is played at the World Championship and Mid-Season Invitational.
Currently, League of Legends is available on Spotify with nine seasons of the game’s character and event theme music, as well as the various themes for the World Championship, All-Stars, and MSI.
Recently Riot Games entered a partnership with Cisco. Cisco’s network will power the private game server used for pro-level competition in League esports matches at three major events, including Worlds, the Mid-Season Invitational, and All-Stars.
The servers will provide pros with sub-one millisecond ping, Riot says, allowing for “near-instantaneous reaction times and uninterrupted gameplay.” They’re expected to offer up to 200 percent “raw performance improvement” over the previously used technology.
Cisco will also deploy new global infrastructure and networking upgrades to allow Riot the “flexibility” and “security” needed to produce esports events in “all corners of the globe.” This will cater to fans at home, reducing delay and improving stream quality.
As part of the partnership, Riot will deploy more than 200 new tournament game servers in regional studios, managed through Cisco’s systems.
The aim of this partnership is to bring “together the leaders in esports and networking to offer the best possible connected experience for players and millions of fans around the world,” said Brain Eaton, the director of global esports marking at Cisco.
