Riot Games and Cisco expand League of Legends esports partnership

Game developer Riot Games has expanded its League of Legends-focused partnership with technology conglomerate Cisco.

The deal will see Cisco leverage its solutions to further improve connectivity for League of Legends esports.

On top of being Riot Games’ official enterprise networking partner for League of Legends’ global esports events, Cisco has also been named the official security partner of LoL Esports. Riot Games first secured a multi-year deal with Cisco in 2020.

The two companies will also collaborate to create new opportunities for rising technology professionals by supporting programmes such as Cisco’s Networking Academy. With the newly expanded partnership, Riot Games will also be able to utilise Cisco’s ThousandEyes solution to identify and troubleshoot problem areas.

Cisco Duo’s identity security solution will protect Rio Games’ League of Legends events from identity-based threats to prevent issues and potential real-time outages.

Together with the ‘The Realm’ — a private Cisco game server used exclusively for LoL Esports’ major global events — and Cisco IP Fabric for Media technology to power live esports production, Riot is looking to elevate its digital experience for fans watching live and remotely.

David Mulhall, Riot Games’ Global Head of Business Development and Esports Partnerships, commented on the deal: “Over the past four years, Cisco’s revolutionary network – The Realm – has lived up to the ‘change the game’ moniker that we strive to deliver to our fans and pros at every esports event.

“Cisco’s technology is central in creating the near zero-ping environment our pro teams demand to compete at their highest level, which in turn makes for the best viewing experience for our fans around the world. As we look forward to an incredible MSI Finals this weekend, I’m thrilled that we can trust our longstanding partnership with Cisco to continue to deliver all the epic moments our fans live for.”