Ahead of League of Legends‘ next big phase, Riot Games is making some dramatic and difficult changes with additional lay-offs. Specifically, Riot Games has let go of 32 more employees. This is on top of the 530 or so employees it’s already laid off since the start of 2024. Out of all the 32 staff recently laid off, 27 belonged to the League of Legends development team. Five were staff members of Riot’s publishing division.
Riot’s leadership has framed these decisions as part of a long-term strategy to ensure the company’s future, rather than an effort to cut costs.
Marc Merril, co-founder of Riot Games, has also released his own statement in response to the latest layoffs: “This isn’t about reducing headcount to save money. We’re not slowing down work on the game you love. We’re investing heavily in solving today’s challenges faster while also building for the future.”
Merrill also said in an additional statement that “Rioters who were laid off will have the ability to use our internal job board to apply for any open roles across the company.” That apparently, should soften the blow to the employees who lost their jobs. Merrill further emphasized that Riot is committed to supporting its laid-off employees. They even offer a severance package of at least six months, an annual bonus, health coverage, and job placement assistance.
“For most of our history, we’ve managed to avoid days like this, but this decision is critical for the future of Riot. This isn’t to appease shareholders or to hit a quarterly earnings number—it’s a necessity,” according to Riot back in a statement from its previous layoffs.
Meanwhile, Merrill assured players and fans of League of Legends that this latest round of layoffs will not affect their favorite Riot game. In fact, he promised that the League of Legends team would eventually be larger than it is today despite the Riot lay-off rounds. Currently, they are preparing for League of Legends‘ next game phase.
