Riot Games Promotes Ryan Crosby to President of Publishing

“League of Legends” and “VALORANT” game developer Riot Games has promoted Ryan Crosby to be its president of publishing, reporting to CEO Nicolo Laurent.

Crosby joined Riot in the gaming company’s entertainment division back in January of this year as the head of global entertainment marketing and consumer products. In his new role, Crosby will lead Riot’s Worldwide Publishing group, which comprises international publishing, global marketing, community relations, channel strategy, player support, localization, commercial initiatives and other key functions. The team includes over 1,000 Rioters in more than 20 offices worldwide.

Crosby’s team has led the marketing strategy for Riot’s upcoming animated series “Arcane,” which is based on the “League of Legends” gaming world and is coming soon to Netflix. They also led the marketing for Pentakill, a band that grew out of the League of Legends world and released an album called “Sessions: Vi” and held an interactive concert experience.

“In his time at Riot, Ryan took ‘hitting the ground running’ to a whole new level and quickly proved that he has the vision and leadership to drive our publishing division into the next chapter,” Laurent said. “Our ambitions across games, entertainment and sports are massive and we need a leader who can see the endgame while keeping us grounded and player-focused in the ways that have made us successful for the past ten years. Ryan checks all the boxes with his years of gaming expertise and his experience at the intersection of technology and entertainment.”

“In my time in gaming and entertainment, I’ve been lucky to be part of many companies at important moments in their histories, but I believe that Riot is truly on the cusp of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Crosby said. “Riot’s deep and genuine commitment to players is a competitive advantage unlike any I’ve seen. I’m honored to lead a group of world-class Rioters as they deliver never-before-seen experiences to players around the world.”

Before Riot, Crosby had advertising and marketing experience with Activision, Microsoft and Netflix. He most recently served as the VP of Marketing at Hulu, where he oversaw marketing across the company’s brand, original content, licensed content and Live TV businesses, as well as its consumer insights and internal creative studio.