A league of their own

[Administrator]

Every Sunday we plunder our archives to bring you a feature you may have originally missed, or perhaps would like to read again. This week, we go back to October 2012, where Simon Parkin reports from the frontline of League of Legend's competitive scene.
Twice a month Riot Games, creator of League of Legends, hires an actor to visit its Santa Monica studio. While the developer adds a couple of playable characters to the online PC game each month, this performer isn't hired to provide voice acting for a new champion, or to be rigged with Ping-Pong balls and motion-captured while pretending to swipe swords or cast spells. Rather, they are hired to mingle, to roam the studio and chat with the other staff, pretending to be a new employee.
The company - founded in 2006 by two graduates from USC - is expanding so quickly that there are often fresh faces to get to know. But new hires - just like every other staff member - are presented with an identification badge to wear at all times: permission to be present. The hired actor, meanwhile, wears none.
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