Riot Games is laying off 11% of its staff, Riot Forge development to end
The company behind League of Legends will be removing 530 jobs globally and will refocus its efforts.
The video game industry layoffs continue as Riot Games announces its letting go of 11 percent of its workforce from around the world. This will have a direct impact on the scope of Legends of Runeterra and will see Riot Forge development finish.
Riot Games announced on January 22, 2024 that it would be eliminating about 530 roles globally, which represents roughly 11 percent of its workforce. The announcement also links to the email that the company sent to its employees which highlights the various benefits those who are affected will receive.
Source: Riot Games
Following this email to employees, Riot Games CEO Dylan Jadeja as well as Chief Product Officer and Co-Founder Marc Merrill released an announcement to players outlining the situation, how it affects the employees, and how it will impact the games the company makes.
The message offers a commitment to the company’s core live games (League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift) and notes that Project L is “making great progress”. Unfortunately, it does acknowledge that Riot Forge will be ending after the release of Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story. For Legends of Runeterra, the game has cost “significantly more to develop and support than it generates” and as such will have a team size reduction with a focused effort on The Path of Champions.
Previously, Riot Games cut 46 jobs as “strategic shifts” back in January 2023, but today’s cuts sound different. The player update post reads as though Riot Games needed to make the cuts in order to remain a functioning company:
This isn’t to appease shareholders or to hit a quarterly earnings number—it’s a necessity. Over the past few years, as Riot more than doubled in headcount, we spread our efforts across more and more projects without sharp enough razors to decide what players needed most. The adjustments we're making aim to focus us on the areas that have the greatest impact on your experience while reducing investment on things that don’t.
Today’s layoffs aren’t the only ones to rock the games industry. Just last week, Google, Discord, and Twitch cut staff while last year saw a monstrous number of employees laid off. We’ll be sure to bring you any updates on this story as it unfolds.
-
Shacknews
replySam Chandler posted a new article, Riot Games is laying off 11% of its staff, Riot Forge development to end
