Riot Games, the developer and publisher of the popular online game League of Legends, announced on Monday that it will lay off 530 employees, or 11% of its global workforce, as part of a major restructuring plan. The company also said it will close down its Riot Forge division, which was responsible for creating new games in the League of Legends universe with external partners.
In a blog post titled “Player Update: 2024 : Changes at Riot and the Road Ahead”, Riot Games CEO Dylan Jadeja and President and Co-Founder Marc Merrill explained the reasons behind the decision, saying that it was “a necessity” and not “to appease shareholders”. They said that the company had grown too fast and lost its focus, and that it needed to prioritize its core live games, such as League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift, as well as its upcoming fighting game Project L.
“Our vision for the future is bold and our commitment to our core live games is more ambitious than ever,” they wrote. “We’re prioritizing these teams so they can focus on the content, features, and updates that directly respond to what you’ve been asking for. Expect events, modes, and long-term road maps that lead to vibrant (hopefully multi-decade) futures for these games.”
They also said that they will end all new game development at Riot Forge, which was launched in 2019 as a way to expand the League of Legends universe with different genres and platforms. Riot Forge produced six games, some of which were critically acclaimed, such as The Mageseeker and Song of Nunu. However, the company said that the initiative did not meet its expectations and that it was not sustainable in the long run.
“We’re incredibly proud of the games that Riot Forge created and the talented developers who worked on them, but we also recognize that this experiment did not deliver the results we hoped for,” they said. “We want to thank our Riot Forge partners for their passion, creativity, and hard work, and we hope to see them continue to make great games in the future.”
The company said in a public letter to Rioters (Riot Employees) ; that it will provide a generous severance package and career support for the affected employees, which will include at least six months of salary, a cash bonus, a personal computer, and access to their Riot email accounts for a period of time. The company also said that it will try to find new roles for some of the employees within Riot or its parent company Tencent. Rioters will learn more about the layoffs via a a Riot WW Town Hall on Thursday.
“We know this is a difficult and painful time for many of you, and we want you to know that we’re here to support you in any way we can,” they said. “We’re grateful for your contributions, your passion, and your friendship, and we hope you’ll stay in touch with us and with each other.”
As an someone who works in the QA industry and an actual Ex-contractor on a Player Behaviour project with Riot , many of my Rioter friends where let go today, but what’s more surprising is most of the roles laid off seem to be Game Designers , Senior Marketing/Creative Directors and even Senior Software Engingeers according to Linked-in (We have blurred the names of employees to respect there privacy)
The layoffs at Riot Games are the latest in a series of job cuts in the gaming industry, which has been hit hard by the pandemic, the rising costs of development, and the increasing competition in the market. According to a report by Game Workers Unite, a labor advocacy group, more than 6,500 workers in the gaming industry lost their jobs in 2023, and the number is expected to rise in 2024. Some of the companies that have announced layoffs in the past year include Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, and Sony.
