EXCLUSIVE: Riot Games — the developer and publisher behind League of Legends — has named former Hulu and Netflix exec Ryan Crosby to head marketing and consumer products at its new entertainment division.
He’ll develop and produce entertainment extensions based on Riot’s global IP, reporting to Shauna Spenley, president of global entertainment. Riot tapped Spenley, former Netflix marketing and publicity VP, in December to run the division.
Crosby, a 20-year industry vet, has worked in advertising and marketing at Activision, Hulu, Microsoft and Netflix, most recently as VP of content marketing at Hulu across the company’s brand, original and licensed content, Live TV, consumer insights and internal creative studio. He was previously Netflix’ director of global creative marketing.
“Ryan and I worked together for years at Netflix and I’m excited to bring his unique mix of strategic and creative experience to Riot as we continue to grow the entertainment division,” said Spenley. “His deep gaming expertise, combined with broad entertainment background, will prove invaluable as we build global teams that will pioneer the future of entertainment.”
Riot Games, founded in 2006, released League of Legends, its debut title, in 2009. Subsequent properties include Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, Valorant, League of Legends: Wild Rift and multiple work-in-progress titles. It launched publishing group Riot Forge to collaborate with third party developers and a first title, Ruined King: A League of Legends Story, is being developed by Airship Syndicate.
The LA-based company, founded by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill and led by CEO Nicolo Laurent, has 3,000 employees in 20 offices worldwide.
“I’ve been a longtime fan of Riot and am looking forward to delivering creative work that will help grow global fandom across our full portfolio,” said Crosby.
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