Riot Games is going through another wave of layoffs. The news was announced on Twitter by Riot co-founder Marc Merrill, who announced the news via a written post on the social media platform. The statement began by assuring fans that League of Legends would be fine before moving on to discuss layoffs.
“I wanted to share some important updates about League of Legends on PC,” Merrill wrote. “We’re making changes to our team and the way we work to ensure we can continue to improve the League of Legends experience now and long-term. . But I want to be clear: We’re not slowing down development of the games you love, and we’re investing heavily to solve today’s challenges faster while also preparing for the future.
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“As part of these changes, we have made the difficult decision to eliminate a number of characters. This is not about reducing headcount to save money, but to ensure we have the right expertise in place for League of Legends to thrive over the next 15 years. Rioters continue to thrive. While team efficiency is more important than team size, we will provide terminated Rioters with a severance package that includes at least six months’ salary, annual bonuses, and job placement as we develop the next phase of the league. Assistance, health insurance and more.”
“We have full confidence in Riot Meddler, Riot Pabro and the league leadership team to take the lead in the next phase of the league’s journey, and we look forward to sharing more about our ambitious plans in the future.”
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This is the second wave of layoffs suffered by employees in recent years. Like last time, it looks like employees across different teams are being hit. Multiple employees across the arts team appear to have been hit, but given the personal nature of the layoffs, we’ll likely see a gradual announcement over the next day or so of how these layoffs affect them.
This is the second time Riot Games has announced layoffs in less than a year. For the first time, more than 500 employees lost their jobs, with the Legends of Runeterra and Riot Forge teams being particularly hard hit. The full scope of the layoffs, in terms of headcount, has not yet been announced.
While the statement does go out of its way to appease consumers of Riot’s games, it’s hard not to view these regular layoffs as a bad sign for the company. It’s a time of major transformation for Riot, with both the company’s game development and esports divisions currently undergoing major overhauls. Hopefully, no more employees will be hit until the company gets back on its feet.
