“This isn’t about reducing headcount to save money.” Riot Games is laying off even more workers on the League of Legends team.

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What you need to know

  • Riot Games, developer and publisher of games like League of Legends and Valorant, is cutting part of the League of Legends team. 
  • According to Riot Games CPO and co-founder Marc Merrill, this “tough decision” is being made not to save money, but to better position the team for success. 
  • Riot Games previously laid off 530 employees in January 2024, or around 11% of the company staff at the time.
  • It’s not clear how many Riot employees have been laid off in this new wave of cuts.

As a tech enthusiast with over two decades of experience in the gaming industry, it’s disheartening to see yet another round of layoffs, this time affecting Riot Games and their beloved League of Legends team. Having witnessed firsthand the impact these cuts can have on individuals and families, I can’t help but feel a sense of dread as I hear about another wave of job losses.

Another week brings even more layoffs across the gaming industry. 

This round, the reductions are originating from Riot Games, the creators and distributors of games such as League of Legends and Valorant. In a tweet (X), co-founder of Riot Games, Marc Merrill, announced that their teams are making significant investments to address current issues quicker while also planning for the future. He further clarified that some team members would be let go.

“This isn’t about reducing headcount to save money—it’s about making sure we have the right expertise so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond,” Merrill says, adding that the team on League of Legends will eventually be “even larger” than it is right now. Affected employees are getting six months of severance, as well as other benefits like health insurance and job placement assistance. 

530 employees from Riot Games were terminated at the beginning of the year, which represented approximately 11% of their total workforce. However, it’s not yet known exactly how many employees have been impacted by this recent wave of reductions. It has been confirmed that teams in art and production within the company experienced layoffs, with character artists, producers, and other personnel being among those who were let go.

2024 brought mass layoffs across the gaming industry

2023 experienced a significant number of job losses and studio shutdowns; however, 2024 has been particularly harsh, with massive layoffs at Microsoft Gaming, PlayStation, Electronic Arts, and numerous other companies. The contrast between these firms expanding their game projects to unprecedented sizes while simultaneously reducing their workforce by hundreds or thousands is stark and distressing to observe.

Merrill’s remarks about the League of Legends team possibly growing larger in the future seem particularly excessive, even considering the broad scale of layoffs happening. It seems like Riot Games is adopting the strategy that it’s simpler to recruit top-tier talent instead of training current staff to bring teams up to par. That approach is certainly a valid decision they can make.

As always, my thoughts are with those affected by the cuts and their families.

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2024-10-16 18:38