I had the immense privilege of helping define the brand voice and marketing for the first new Riot game in a decade, providing copy and creative for the official launch and beyond.
As Senior Writer and sole copywriter on the team, I wrote virtually all copy for all publishing / marketing material on social media, the app store, the website, and paid media, as well as a variety of CRM communications. I worked closely with the Creative and Brand Directors to align strategy, develop creative, and analyze asset performance across multiple campaigns, beginning with beta and continuing through the first two expansions post-launch.
Legends of Runeterra Launch
Cinematics & Showcases
Concepted, pitched, wrote, and edited scripts for multiple cinematic trailers and gameplay showcases for the launch & first major expansions to Legends of Runeterra.
The challenge in the former case was to show off the locations, creatures, and dangers from the upcoming expansion — what current players cared about most — while also telling a compelling, accessible story that would hook players hearing about the game for the first time. In the end, the heartfelt relationship of a duo on an epic quest to the top of Mount Targon hit all the right beats.
Directed marketing, managed social media + community + press + content creators, wrote copy, edited video, streamed gameplay, and generally flexed into whatever role or execution was needed during early access.
I consulted on the upcoming social deduction game TRUST NO BUNNY, the first title from brand new studio Friendly Pixel. As Director of Marketing & Community at an indie studio, it was a thrilling challenge to search for unique strategies to break into the market and build a community from the ground up, without the usual AAA budget.
Trust No Bunny
Varus: Retribution Doc
Directed and produced a short documentary on the development of a lore-based campaign encompassing two comics and a music video.
Changing the lore of a League of Legends champion can be a gamble: sometimes the community responds positively, other times they eat you alive. With this BTS piece, we helped players understand the creative decisions at play — and also the humans who made them. I’m happy to report that the music video has millions of views and the devs remain uneaten.
Wild Rift Trailer
Concepted and co-wrote the script for the first major trailer for the mobile version of League of Legends: Wild Rift.
Wild Rift is meant to appeal to a much broader audience than League’s original “hardcore” one. The trailer needed to be fun, charismatic, and appealing, but we also wanted to subtly connect with the new kinds of players who might pick up this game over League: students bored between classes, mobile gamers unsatisfied with simplistic clones, and lonely souls looking for a quick way to play with friends.
League of Legends Champions
In addition to writing scripts for spotlight videos, editorial for gameplay reveals, and copy for promotional materials, I created a short blurb for each of League’s champions that could be used across a variety of media, including the new player website. League’s massive roster led me to produce roughly 150 pieces of copy that each captured the personality and “power fantasy” of a champion.
Projects like this aren’t the most flashy, but they help us scale our efforts across the organization and maximize the value of our individual output. Now when someone needs a quick bit of copy for a champion, it’s already on hand.
LoR Dev Announcement
Wrote and edited scripts for Legend of Runeterra’s launch announcement, among other dev communications (including articles on the game’s design philosophy).
This video had everyone sweating. A competitor had announced their own digital card game not too long ago to deafening disappointment; we needed the exact opposite reaction. I worked closely with the Executive Producer & Design Director for LoR — along with feedback from a coterie of other leaders at Riot — to create a video that would deliver all the key positioning without sacrificing personality.
Is it cheesy? Yeah. Did it get the job done? Absolutely.
You’re only seeing half the story.
There’s been a ton more work beyond what’s on this site, and every project has taught me something new. Get in touch — we can talk about what I’ve learned over the years, and what we might be able to collaborate on next.
dylanbuckstopshere@gmail.com
In the meantime, I’ll let some colleagues do the talking for me: