Beck and Merrill sought funding from family and Angel investors, raising 1.5 million us dollar to launch their company.[1] Riot Games was established in September 2006 and opened an office in an old, converted machine shop under an Interstate 405 overpass in Santa Monica, California.[4][5] The first person Riot Games recruited was Steve " Guinsoo " Feak, one of the early developers of " Defense of the Ancients " , a game considered to have been foundational to the MOBA genre.[4] As they refined " League of Legends " initial creation, they pitched investors a video game company rooted in E-commerce.