Riot Games Lays Off Staff for the Second Time This Year, Focuses on Long-Term Growth and Improvement of League of Legends
Riot Games, the studio behind the popular MOBA game League of Legends, has announced a second round of layoffs, affecting the PC development team behind the title. The move is part of larger changes aimed at ensuring long-term growth and improvement of League.
In a statement, Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill emphasized that the decision to eliminate roles was not taken to "save money." Instead, the studio is refocusing its efforts to ensure the right expertise is in place to make League great for the next 15 years and beyond. The League of Legends team will eventually grow in size as the studio develops the next phase of the game.
The affected employees will receive a severance package, including a minimum of six months’ pay, annual bonus, job placement assistance, health coverage, and more. According to Merrill, the studio is working on the "next phase" of League of Legends and will share more about its "ambitious plans" in the future.
This is the second round of layoffs to hit Riot Games this year, following a similar move in January that affected 530 employees, about 11 percent of its global workforce. The studio has not confirmed the exact number of employees impacted by the latest round of layoffs, but a studio spokesperson confirmed that 32 employees, including 27 roles on the League of Legends team and five roles in publishing, will be affected.
Riot Games’ CEO Dylan Jadeja previously stated, "We’re a company without a sharp enough focus, and simply put, we have too many things underway. Some of the significant investments we’ve made aren’t paying off the way we expected them to. Our costs have grown to the point where they’re unsustainable."
As Riot Games moves forward, it is clear that the studio is committed to prioritizing the future growth and success of League of Legends, even if it means making tough decisions along the way.
