League of Legends developer Riot Games is laying off 11% of its workforce, cutting off 530 workers in a move described as “necessary” for the massive game developer.
Revealed in a blog post, the League of Legends developer claimed that the decision to cut workers was not “to appease shareholders” but was instead “critical” for the studio to survive.
Riot Games explained that the studio “more than doubled in headcount” over the course of the pandemic. However, the studio is now letting go of workers to fix its poor decisions over the last few years.
“For most of our history, we’ve managed to avoid days like this, but this decision is critical for the future of Riot,” the studio said. “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,” it continued. “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.”
The affected workers will be given six months of severance pay, an additional cash bonus for those who hit 2023 targets, a work laptop to keep, access to therapy for three months as well as six months of career support to find a new gig.
Riot Games’ decision has been heavily criticised by the affected workers who have been let go by the studio. Multiple workers who are being let go have expressed anger at the studio for cutting them so early in the year.
“It was nearly my 10 year anniversary. I’m going to miss all the lovely people I’ve gotten to know while working here,” said former Riot Esports producer Missy Kiley. “I don’t even know what else to say. Today has been a hard day.”
“Unfortunately, I was impacted by the layoffs,” said former mobility analyst at Riot, Elyse. “I’m incredibly thankful for the amazing people I’ve met & worked with & truly cherished my time at Riot. I’m looking for new opportunities. I have HR & project management experience, with the last 3 years focus on global esports events.”
Riot Games is still dedicated to continuing development on League of Legends, Valorant and other projects following the loss of over 500 developers.