In an unsurprising turn of events, Riot Games has announced yet more layoffs. The layoffs directly affected those working on the League of Legends team, and they were reportedly done to help “evolve League,” as Marc Merrill, Co-Founder of Riot Games, stated. According to the update, these layoffs weren’t done in an effort to save money, but instead, “it’s about making sure we have the right expertise so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond.” This year, in particular, has seen a drop in live monthly players. According to activeplayer.io, League of Legends is still performing incredibly well, with the game having over 130,394,000 average monthly players.
In addition to this, people are being introduced to the League of Legends world, and more people are playing the game for the first time thanks to Arcane, an animated series exclusive to Netflix. The first season did remarkably well, and the second season is close to release, with hype for the show building up rapidly. Merrill also states that despite there being this second round of layoffs, the League team will “eventually be even larger than it is today as we develop the next phase of League.”
At the moment, it hasn’t been stated how many staff members have been laid off in this new round of layoffs by Merrill himself, but spokesperson Joe Hixson shared the number with The Verge, saying that 32 staff members have been laid off. Still, it’s said that the Rioters laid off will be supported with a severance package that includes a minimum of six months’ pay, an annual bonus, job placement assistance, health coverage, and more, according to Merrill’s statement.
The comments under the announcement have been anything but kind, as game players begin to call out the company for overcharging on skins and Chromas, which cost an excessive amount of money.
The last round of layoffs was handled poorly. Those who were laid off found out via social media that they had lost their jobs rather than being told personally that they had lost their jobs. Merrill finishes his statement regarding the Riot layoffs with a conclusion: “While the League team will ultimately be larger after these changes, what matters more than size is having the right team, right priorities, and a sustainable approach to delivering what players need. If we’re solving the wrong problems, more resources won’t fix it. It’s about building smarter and healthier, not just bigger.”
