League Of Legends Developer Riot Games Confirms Another Wave Of Layoffs

Image: Riot Games

After axing 530 jobs across the company this January, League of Legends developer Riot Games has announced that a second wave of layoffs has put a further 32 members of staff out of work.

In a statement released to Eurogamer, a Riot Games spokesperson confirmed that the majority of those affected come from the League of Legends team, with 27 roles being cut. A further five roles have been cut from the publishing department.

According to the studio's statement, "Rioters who were laid off will have the ability to use our internal job board to apply for any open roles across the company".

Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill shared the news in a post on Twitter, claiming that the latest round of layoffs "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". Those affected by the cuts have all been given a severance package including a minimum of six months' pay, their annual bonus, job placement assistance and more.

You'll find Merrill's full statement and the original tweet below.

Hey all,
I want to share some important updates about @leagueoflegends PC. We’ve made changes to our teams and how we work to make sure we can keep improving the League experience now and for the long-term. But I want to be clear: 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.

As part of these changes, we’ve made the tough decision to eliminate some roles. 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. While team effectiveness is more important than team size, the League team will eventually be even larger than it is today as we develop the next phase of League. For Rioters who are laid off, we’re supporting them with a severance package that includes a minimum of six months' pay, annual bonus, job placement assistance, health coverage, and more.

We have full confidence in @RiotMeddler, @RiotPabro, and the League leadership team, who are leading the charge in this next phase of League’s journey, and we look forward to sharing more about our ambitious plans in the future.

Thank you all for playing and for being part of the League community.
Marc

Riot Games' earlier layoffs this year were estimated to have affected roughly 11% of its workforce, with those "outside of core development" being the worst hit. The announcement also saw the end of game development under the Riot Forge label, which wrapped up with February's crafting RPG Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story.

Just yesterday, we learned of more staff cuts at Bandai Namco as 2024 continues to be a year plagued by layoff stories for studios big and small.