Riot-E Riot Entertainment Ltd, was a Finnish media company, focused on

SMS Short Message Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile phones exchange short text messages, t ...

content mobile phone games that, despite 20 million

euro The euro (currency symbol, symbol: euro sign, €; ISO 4217, currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the Member state of the European Union, member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the ...

s in

venture capital Venture capital (VC) is a form of private equity financing provided by firms or funds to start-up company, startup, early-stage, and emerging companies, that have been deemed to have high growth potential or that have demonstrated high growth in ...

invested in them by corporate giants like

Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

and

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group Inc. is an American multinational company with operations in private equity, alternative asset management and financial services. As of 2023, the company had $426 billion of assets under management. Carlyle specializes in ...

, went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the de ...

within two years. Riot Entertainment managed to create a very positive public image. It seemed as if it had everything going for it: Investors with very deep pockets, relationships with top media brands of the world, contracts with large operators, an extensive worldwide gaming network, a very dynamic public image and worldwide presence. They were possibly the first company to offer highly branded mobile games and worldwide online gaming, years before the mainstream could even dream about such services. They spent money on refurbishing an exclusive four-storey office with gaming rooms,

sauna A sauna (, ) is a room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a sauna is used to meas ...

and a theater for 50 people. They built the first games from scratch and recruited 100 people in one summer, and the almost 24/7 workforce was nourished by daily breakfasts and frequent parties. On July 4, 2001, RIOT-E’s pay-per-download service had attracted close to 200,000 downloads of X-Men characters and images by subscribers to Japan’s Big Three operators. On July 16, 2001, Riot-E announced that it "will develop interactive games for The Lord of the Rings fans and gaming communities" The creditors were out 3.2 million euros.

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

and

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

did not get their leasing fees, BT Ignite ended up providing broadband services without compensation, Hertz will not be getting its car leasing fees, Nokia Ventures with 25 percent ownership, and Softbank UK Ventures with 15 percent ownership had nothing to show, operators in the Philippines (Global Handyphone), Italy (Telecom Italia Mobile – TIM), Spain (Telefónica) and Finland (Radiolinja) and the landlord is missing 157,000 euros worth of rent. The company was such a spectacular failure that it was the subject of the award-winning documentary ''

Riot On! A riot or mob violence is a form of civil disorder commonly characterized by a group lashing out in a violent public disturbance against authority, property, or people. Riots typically involve destruction of property, public or private. The p ...

''. Company slogan: "We don't make games, we create riots."

References

External links

Helsingin Sanomat
Mass media companies of Finland Defunct companies of Finland {{ict-company-stub The Carlyle Group companies