Riot Games (2022)Copied

In February 2022 Riot Games, the developer of League of Legends and VALORANT, unveiled a new logo alongside a new press website. Esports Insider reported that the visual identity would be followed by a broader brand redesign rolled out across all assets during the year, and noted that this was the company's second logo change in three years, after substantial changes in 2019.

Riot explained the reasoning in a statement quoted by Esports Insider, Upcomer and UnGeek. As it entered its second decade, the timing felt right to update and expand its visual system. The logo change was an output of building a more cohesive system, including new assets such as typography, that would help players recognise Riot more easily wherever it shows up. While the wordmark became a bit more modern, the company wanted to retain the original spirit of the fist and make it clear that Riot GAMES remain at its core.

Upcomer recalled that ahead of its tenth anniversary in 2019 Riot had moved to the more minimalist white fist and text. Esports Insider's verdict was simple: the new logo is not all that different from the old version, with the font as the most notable change, and it keeps the fist that has been part of the identity since the company's earliest days.

That restraint is correct. The fist is one of the most recognisable symbols in games, and fans attach real loyalty to it. A corporate logo for a publisher mostly appears before trailers and on esports broadcasts; it needs to be bold and consistent, not new.

Esports Insider judged the new logo not all that different from the old one, the most notable change being the font, and noted it was the second logo change in three years. It said a wider rebranding effort would follow during 2022, while it was still unclear whether that would touch the logos of Riot's games. The news landed amid updates on an unnamed fighting game and on the Wild Rift and VALORANT competitive ecosystems. Two logo changes in three years is a lot for a mark this similar each time; the system matters more than the fist.

The interesting work is the system around it. Custom typography and shared assets matter more for a company with several major games than any single mark.