Campus News

Global Communications Director of League of Legends Franchise
Will Speak at the University of Mississippi

UM graduate will discuss pursing his dreams in the gaming world

 

Ryan Rigney, the global communications lead of the League of Legends franchise, will be the first speaker of the spring semester at the University of Mississippi School of Journalism and New Media. 

He will address an audience in the Overby Center auditorium at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 29. The Overby Center is located inside Farley Hall on the University of Mississippi campus.

He will also be one of the featured panelists during the 2020 Jobs Conference set for 10-4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 30 in the Overby Center and Farley Hall.

Rigney, 28, a native of Poplarville, Mississippi, said he enrolled in the University of Mississippi in 2010 with dreams of becoming a magazine journalist.

“While still in high school, I landed some gigs writing about video games for - first - websites, and later, small-press magazines like GamePro (R.I.P.),” he said. “By the time I was in college, I'd worked my way up the ladder of the magazine world enough to write for magazines like PC Gamer, and later WIRED and EDGE.”

Rigney wrote about mobile games, which culminated in the publication of his book Buttonless about iOS games. After graduating, he moved to Los Angeles to work for a gaming-adjacent startup.

About a year later, he landed his first job at Riot Games, the developer and publisher of League of Legends. By player count, it is the world's most popular PC game and biggest esport with an annual Worlds championship that has drawn about 100 million unique viewers for a couple of years. A key driver of the explosive growth of esports, Riot Games is headquartered in Los Angeles and has 23 offices worldwide.

“On paper, I'm a people manager,” he said. “I lead a team that includes our editorial lead and a quartet of senior/mid-level comms strategists who run all communications on three of Riot's games. I operate at the ‘franchise’ level, which is just a fancy way of saying that they call me whenever we do something that covers more than one game.

“I'm a little unusual in that I also work as an individual contributor. I write a lot of Riot's messaging directly. I act as a spokesperson for the company on social media (Reddit/Twitter especially), and I guide our overall approach to communications. Mostly, I sit in meetings and help developers figure out how to say stuff to players.”

Rigney predicts the games industry will get bigger and more ambitious. He said college students should consider pursuing jobs in it because there are more entry points and viable careers now than ever before.

Ellen Meacham, a professor with the UM School of Journalism and New Media, said Rigney arrived on campus as a student with big ideas and a lot of energy.

“He was a hard worker too,” she said. “In 2012, he won the university’s Gillespie Award for best business plan. I think he will also have a lot to say about what the esports and gaming world is like now, what’s in the future, and how his work in communications will shape and be shaped by that.”

Rigney said writing was one of the most valuable skills he learned at the UM School of Journalism and New Media.

“My j-school professors taught me how to write,” he said. “Which is to say, they taught me how to think clearly, and to structure information in a way that's digestible for other people. Even though my job doesn't match the degree I earned from Ole Miss, I think the lessons I learned about writing are 100 percent applicable to my current job.”

Rigney also remembers the professors who encouraged him to pursue his passion. 

“I don't know what sort of encouragement the current crop of Ole Miss students need, but I'd love to listen to their questions and share what limited knowledge I have to help them along their own paths,” he said. “I think sometimes people from Mississippi don't think they can do the sort of work that successful people in the film industry, or literature, or gaming do. It all seems very distant, when you grew up in the woods, like I did. I would love to help people understand how achievable their goals are, if they're strategic about their career.”

Rigney said he doesn’t believe in one-size-fits-all advice, but he’s learned a few things about the business world.

“You have to ask for something if you're going to get it,” he said. “That applies to jobs, and career opportunities, and chances to grow.”

To request an interview, contact Debora Wenger, assistant dean for innovation and external partnerships and associate professor of journalism, at 662-915-7912 or drwenger@olemiss.edu.

Tickets are not required for the event. If you plan to attend and require accommodations for a disability, please contact Sarah Griffith as soon as possible by calling 662-915-7146. For more information about our journalism visit jnm.olemiss.edu.