Riot-E Riot Entertainment Ltd, was a Finnish media company, focused on SMS content mobile phone games that, despite 20 million euros in venture capital invested in them by corporate giants like Nokia, News Corporation and The Carlyle Group, went bankrupt within two years.
They spent money on refurbishing an exclusive four-storey office with gaming rooms, sauna and a theater for 50 people.
They built the first games from scratch and recruited 100 people in one summer, and the almost 24/7 workforce was nourished by daily breakfasts and frequent parties.
On July 4, 2001, RIOT-E’s pay-per-download service had attracted close to 200,000 downloads of X-Men characters and images by subscribers to Japan’s Big Three operators.
Hewlett-Packard and IBM did not get their leasing fees, BT Ignite ended up providing broadband services without compensation, Hertz will not be getting its car leasing fees, Nokia Ventures with 25 percent ownership, and Softbank UK Ventures with 15 percent ownership had nothing to show, operators in the Philippines (Global Handyphone), Italy (Telecom Italia Mobile – TIM), Spain (Telefónica) and Finland (Radiolinja) and the landlord is missing 157,000 euros worth of rent.