Riot Games has officially announced that it will be eliminating 530 jobs across the global team, amounting to 11% of its current workforce.
The latest in a growing list of video game companies to reduce staff, Riot announced the cuts with a published letter to staff, penned by CEO Dylan Jadeja. In it, Jadeja outlined the decision-making process in coming to this decision, including attempts to avoid this outcome (by way of hiring freezes and slowdowns).
“As CEO, I’m accountable for the changes we’re making and where we’re headed in the future,” said Jadeja. “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, and we’ve left ourselves with no room for experimentation or failure – which is vital to a creative company like ours.”
In a second post directed at players of Riot’s games, Jadeja and Marc Merrill (President of Riot Games) confirmed that this would not affect League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift – in large part due to a refocus and prioritisation of the teams working on those titles.
The letter reads: “Our strategy moving forward is clear: we’re honing in on what we do best and what resonates most with you. Every endeavour, from development to storytelling to competition, will be crafted to deliver meaningful, memorable experiences with games at the centre.”
Riot Games staff members who are affected by the layoffs will receive:
- A minimum of six months severance pay
- A cash bonus equal to individual performance bonus targets
- Additional pay to cover health benefits equal to the length of the severance pay
- A laptop (if required), plus retaining their current peripherals
- Six months of career support, including career coaching and job placement services
- Visa support for international workers
- Extended access to Riot email addresses after notification
Read: GDC State of the Industry report highlights layoffs and generative AI concerns
In addition to the staffing cuts, Riot has also confirmed that it will be sunsetting Riot Forge – the third party publishing label which works with external studios to create games derived from Riot’s intellectual property – following the release of Bandle Tale.
Jadeja emphasised that this doesn’t mean an end to all projects with external developers in future, saying, “We aren’t closing the door entirely on single-player experiences or working with other developers if the right project comes along, but we would want it to look pretty different in the future.”
This, however, does not minimise the growing concern and sadness felt industry-wide over the latest spate of job cuts. In the past few weeks, layoffs have been announced at a host of companies, including Behaviour Interactive, Thunderful Group, Lost Boys Interactive, Discord, Twitch and more – amounting to thousands of jobs lost in 2024 alone.
