Riot Games Lays Off 530 People, 11% of Total Workforce
Riot Games Layoff, 530 People Lose Their Jobs Totalling 11% of the League of Legends Developers Global Workforce
- Riot Games has laid off 530 people globally, which they say equals 11% of their total workforce.
- Riot’s statement outlines several benefits and offers affected employees may receive including severance pay, cash bonuses, health benefits, and more for up to 6 months.
- As of the statement's release, affected employees have not yet been confirmed and will receive emails about their future at the company.
In an ongoing trend for January 2024, more layoffs have been announced in the video game sector, this time with Riot Games. In the statement, CEO Dylan Jadeja, announces that 11% of Riot’s global workforce, 530 people, would be let go in the coming weeks. The reasoning, according to his statement, is that some bets that Riot made just didn’t pan out. Riot now joins companies like Gearbox, Discord, Twitch, and many others.
The Riot Games Layoffs
In his statement, CEO Dylan Jadeja points to 2019 when the company made several plans to expand its portfolio and experiences, increasing its global footprint at Riot Games. He says that “[Riot] changing our operating model, bringing in new talent to match our ambitions, and ultimately doubling the size of Riot in just a few years.”
It seems that games made through Riot Forge, such as Bandle Tales, didn’t quite live up to the company's expectations. As a result, Riot Forge is being sunset and Legends of Runeterra will be seeing a cut in its resources as well.
Jadeja reaffirms that Riot is committed to its core experiences with League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift. But to focus on the players and the company portfolio, there’s only one thing left to do.
“We’re not doing this to appease shareholders or to hit some quarterly earnings number – we’ve made this decision because it’s a necessity. It's what we need to do in order to maintain a long-term focus for players,” says CEO Dylan Jadeja in his statement concerning the layoffs.
Those who will be affected by the layoffs, which as of the posting of this statement, had not yet been contacted.
“Within the next hour, Rioters around the world will receive an email informing them whether or not their role is, or may be, impacted. This isn’t the usual way we do things, but we wanted to optimize for letting people know as soon as possible, and that’s tough to do at our scale without using email,” Jadeja said in the statement. Following up with those emails, steps would be discussed in the next 48 hours for affected employees.
The statement also details steps Riot would be taking to help ensure that those affected by the layoff land on their feet. Some of those include severance pay for up to 6 months, cash bonuses, health benefits, equity, career support, and more.
You can view the statement from Riot in full, here.
