League of Legends publisher Riot Games has laid off 11% of its staff, approximately 530 jobs. This move is in line with other major game developers and tech firms that are scaling back specific divisions as part of cost-cutting strategies in response to increasing expenses.
Riot announced in a company-wide message, “We’re changing some of the bets we’ve made and shifting how we work across the company to create focus and move us toward a more sustainable future. This decision means we’re eliminating about 530 roles globally, which represents around 11% of our workforce, with the biggest impact to teams outside of core development.”
“We have to do more to focus our business and center our efforts on the things that drive the most player value – the things that are truly worth players’ time. Unfortunately, this involves making changes in the area where we invest the most — our headcount,” said CEO Dylan Jadeja.
For employees, “Whose role is or may be impacted,” there will be a minimum of six months of severance pay, with more for those who have been with the company longer, as well as other benefits.
A new focus
Riot also emphasises a focus on its core live games, including League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift, along with associated esports and events. The ongoing development of the Project L 2D fighting game featuring League characters is reported to be, “Making great progress” as well, and the second season of the Arcane TV show for Netflix is slated for release in November.
Projects impacted by the job cuts include Legends of Runeterra, the free-to-play card game announced in 2019, which according to Jadeja, “Hasn’t performed as well as we need it to.” The team working on this project is being downsized and redirected toward the PvE game mode.
Another affected area in Riot’s existing gaming lineup is the Riot Forge publishing label which was introduced in 2019 to partner with smaller studios in producing more League-related games. After releasing six titles – including the Netflix mobile exclusive Hextech Mayhem – Riot Forge will shut down following the launch of Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story.
