League of Legends and VALORANT Publisher and Developer Will Become a Minority Shareholder in Statespace to Expand Longtime Partnership
Riot Games, the developer and publisher known for genre-defining games including League of Legends and VALORANT, today announced that it has deepened its relationship with Statespace, developer of training and coaching platform, Aim Lab.
Under the terms of the agreement, Aim Lab will become VALORANT’s official training and coaching platform. Aim Lab will leverage Riot’s Intellectual Property to integrate in-game physics, maps, and weapons that will enable VALORANT players most true-to-game training possible. Riot, upon exercise of a warrant issued in connection with the agreement, will gain a minority stake in Statespace and continue to work together with Aim Lab to develop innovative training, coaching, and scouting tools for VALORANT players and eventually MOBA players.
“We look forward to collaborating with Statespace on developing innovative training and coaching tools for VALORANT and MOBA players around the world to improve their skills at every level,” said Jake Perlman-Garr, Global Head of Corporate Development at Riot Games.
“Riot has been the best partner, collaborator, and facilitator that we could have asked for. We are thrilled to continue to improve player experience through training, coaching, and scouting in VALORANT and soon, in League of Legends,” said Dr. Wayne Mackey, CEO of Statespace.
Over the past year, Riot and Statespace have collaborated to create incredible experiences for millions of players across multiple games and events. As a founding partner, the first collaboration was The Aim Lab Combine in partnership with VCT Challengers North America where for the first time, VALORANT players could see how they stacked up against legendary professionals. Riot and Statespace collaborated on Aim Lab tasks to celebrate the best plays from the first year and a rhythm task set to Die For You during VCT Champs. Aim Lab is installed on competition PCs at Masters and Champions to help pros warm up prior to matches and more.
After a record-breaking closed beta that saw more than 1.7 million peak concurrent viewers on Twitch, VALORANT, a competitive 5v5 character-based tactical shooter, quickly established itself as the fastest growing game in esports of 2020. Statespace’s Aim Lab expanded their partnership in the growing global esport through multiple programs including VALORANT Challengers North America, EMEA, LATAM, Game Changers, and VALORANT Champions Tour.
In November 2021, Aim Lab celebrated the launch of Arcane, Riot’s award-winning League of Legends universe animated series that premiered on Netflix and China’s Tencent video, with a shooting gallery themed to the Undercity location featured in the show. The shooting gallery was available in Aim Lab’s Creator Studio until the end of the February and Aim Lab created a special VR version in-person at Riot Games’ Undercity Nights experience in Los Angeles.