Marc Merrill Promoted to Newly Created Role of Chief Product Officer

Marc Merrill promoted to newly created role at Riot Games. Credit: Riot Games

Riot Games announced Wednesday that Co-Founder and former Co-CEO Marc Merrill has been appointed to the newly created role of chief product officer (CPO). In this new role, Merrill will oversee the entire ecosystem of all Riot Games products including League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, Valorant, Runeterra, Wild Rift, and the upcoming MMO and fighting game projects currently in development. He’ll report directly to current CEO Dylan Jadeja.

According to a release, Merrill will “lead the vision for the ecosystems surrounding each game while helping solidify the future paths of” of all Riot’s game-related properties, and will also be “responsible for aligning the broader product strategy and ensuring that gameplay, esports, and entertainment experiences across all titles are aligned to drive the most impactful and resonant outcomes for players.”

Previously, Merrill served as president of Riot’s “games pillar,” working with game leaders on the overall strategy behind Riot’s overall games portfolio. 

Merrill has been with Riot from the beginning, and has been embroiled in his fair share of controversy, mainly because he has been in a leadership role within the company since its inception in September 2006 alongside co-founder Brandon Beck. The most notable of those controversies involved allegations that the company engaged in systemic gender discrimination and sexism, which was first unearthed in a series of articles by Kotaku in the first half of 2018.