League of Legends Studio Riot Games to Lay Off Hundreds of Staff
Riot Games – the studio behind League of Legends and Valorant – is the next big name to be hit with layoffs. According to a recent press release from the company, 530 roles are about to be lost.
Severance package offered
The news comes straight from Riot Games itself, which made the announcement via the website, as well as a post on X. While the studio said it’s “managed to avoid days like this” for years, a tough decision has had to be made.
However, the developer goes on to say that this “isn’t to appease shareholders or to hit a quarterly earnings number,” and it’s “a necessity.” Whether this will come as some comfort to the hundreds about to lose their jobs remains to be seen.
Minutes ago, we shared an important update with Rioters about the future of Riot Games. Here’s what these changes mean for our games and what players can expect from us going forward: https://t.co/SPjvtANGdK pic.twitter.com/WGSr6fkvjp
— Riot Games (@riotgames) January 22, 2024
The layoffs are expected to hit the company on a global scale, but will have the biggest impact on teams “outside of core development.” The total number of people being made redundant is equivalent to around 11% of Riot’s workforce.
As a result, this will have an effect on the future of Riot Forge titles. The message reads: “We’re ending new game development under Riot Forge after the upcoming release of Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story.”
In an effort to be a little more transparent, the studio released the internal memo written to staff by CEO Dylan Jadeja. In the email, it’s made clear that those affected by the layoffs will be issued severance pay, a cash bonus, health benefits, and more.
Riot Games is the latest casualty in mass layoffs that impacted the gaming industry in 2023. However, it seems this trend is set to continue, judging by what we’ve seen in January already.
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