Riot Games Faces Growing Losses from LEC and Global Esports

While League of Legends and Valorant continue to rake in money worldwide, Riot Games is struggling to make its esports leagues profitable — especially in Europe. According to a report from Sheep Esports, the company’s European League of Legends league, LEC, has been operating at a loss for years and keeps getting more expensive to run.

From 2020 to 2023, LEC lost about €53 million (around $60 million), with €28.5 million of that in just 2023. These losses come from production costs, staff salaries, live event expenses, logistics, and a drop in sponsorships and revenue. The numbers come from Riot Games Limited — the studio’s international arm that handles publishing and esports in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Interestingly, Riot Games Limited is still a profitable company overall. In 2023, it reported €1.55 billion in total revenue and a net income of €385 million. But the esports side clearly drags things down.

The financial pressure is being felt internally too. Riot has cut staff across its esports and broadcasting teams — partly due to demands from Tencent, which owns most of the company and is now pushing for higher profits.

And it’s not just Europe. South Korea’s LCK, the most-watched League league in the world, also reported losses totaling $35 million between 2022 and 2024.

Main image: alphacoders.com