Jobs / United States / Riot Games INC
Staff Software Engineer, Platform Services - Central Technology, Anti-Cheat
Riot Games INC · 🇺🇸 Los Angeles, USA
Sponsorship verdict
Sponsorship possible
One solid signal, not two — worth applying, and worth asking about sponsorship early.
- Employer is on a government sponsor recordThe US Department of Labor certified 64 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 33 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
- The posting doesn’t mention sponsorshipSilence isn’t a refusal — ask the recruiter before investing much time.
- No salary bar for this routeH-1B has no fixed salary bar: the employer must pay at least the prevailing wage for the role and area. Cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level. Source: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/12/29/2025-23853/weighted-selection-process-for-registrants-and-petitioners-seeking-to-file-cap-subject-h-1b, rules effective 2026-02-27.
- What Riot Games INC paid sponsored hires in similar roles21 certified filings for “Software Engineer II” (Software Developers) in CA: $158k–$185k, median $185k. Most were filed at wage level IV (58%) — 4 lottery entries, ≈61% projected selection odds for cap-subject employers. Source: US Department of Labor LCA disclosure data (Oct 2025 – Jun 2026).
- Confirmed live todayWhen a source last listed this job as open.
US H-1B: cap-subject employers enter a lottery weighted by wage level — Level I gets 1 entry, Level IV gets 4 (DHS projected selection odds ≈15% at Level I to ≈61% at Level IV). Universities and non-profit research employers are cap-exempt. The $100,000 fee for new petitions from abroad is currently blocked by a court order (appeal pending).
A verdict summarises public evidence; it is not legal advice and never a guarantee — the employer and the immigration authority decide. Sign in to factor in where you can already work.
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Sponsor Radar — Riot Games INC
The US Department of Labor certified 64 H-1B/E-3 labor condition applications for this employer between Oct 2025 and Jun 2026 (latest Jun 2026) — the step every H-1B hire needs first. USCIS also records 33 H-1B approvals in FY2023. Source: LCA disclosure data (US Department of Labor (OFLC)).
Past sponsorship or register membership never guarantees sponsorship for this vacancy or for you. Full Sponsor Radar for Riot Games INC →
About the role
Riot Engineers on Anti-Cheat are builders, trailblazers, and stewards of competitive integrity. We protect the legitimacy of Riot’s multiplayer games by designing resilient platforms, developing robust internal tools, and staying ahead of adversarial threats without losing sight of the player experience. As a Staff Software Engineer on Vanguard’s Platform Services team, you will operate at the intersection of platform services, internal developer tooling, and ecosystem design. You’ll be responsible for supporting a platform that serves millions of players, supporting internal tools that serve hundreds of Player Support agents and developing cutting edge technology to help prevent, detect and deter cheaters from getting into our games. This is a hands-on staff role for an engineer who thrives on rolling up their sleeves and building services in a fast-paced and innovative environment. You will help lead through technical expertise and soft skills, influencing the direction of the team both through code and a deep drive to understand and improve the product. You will partner closely with engineers, stakeholders, and anti-cheat experts across the entire Vanguard stack to build performant and impactful tools and services in support of our Players. You will report to the Engineering Manager of Platform Services within Anti-Cheat Responsibilities: • Design, build, and evolve shared backend platform services that power Vanguard systems across client, services, and internal tooling • Own APIs and service contracts used by multiple teams, ensuring reliability, clarity, and long-term maintainability • Lead the development of internal tools and web applications used for operations, investigations, configuration, and visibility • Identify and reduce systemic risks across the platform (scalability, operability, security, maintainability) • Design and operate distributed backend systems with high availability and strong security guarantees • Partner in incident response, root cause analysis, and long-term reliability improvements • Improve CI/CD pipelines, observability, and operational workflows for platform services • Collaborate across Anti-Cheat, Security, and Game teams as a trusted technical partner Required Qualifications: • Staff-level experience building and owning backend platforms and internal tools used by multiple teams • Strong experience with backend service development and distributed systems (e.g., AWS, Docker, Kubernetes) • Significant experience building internal tools or web applications using modern web stacks (e.g.,Golang, React, Node.js, TypeScript) • Experience designing and maintaining APIs and shared services in a large or growing ecosystem • Comfort operating and debugging live, production systems • Strong architectural judgment and experience influencing key technical decisions • Excellent communication skills and a collaborative mindset Desired Qualifications: • Experience working on platform teams or internal developer tooling • Experience designing systems with security and adversarial thinking in mind • Background supporting high-availability services or operational tooling • Experience mentoring engineers at all levels • Experience building developer platforms or sandbox environments for rapid experimentation • A strong understanding of LLMs, Agentic AI based development, and their respective strengths and weaknesses For this role, you'll find success through craft expertise, a collaborative spirit, and decision-making that prioritizes the delight of players. We will be looking at your past studies, experience, and your personal relationship with games. If you embody player empathy and care about players' experiences, this could be your role! Our Perks: Riot focuses on work/life balan