Riot Games, creators of Valorant and League of Legends, has reached a settlement agreement totaling $100 million with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), and other parties involved in a gender discrimination lawsuit filed against the company in 2018.
IGN reports that the total fee is comprised of $80 million for the settlement fees to Riot's past and present female employees and contractors who have alleged the company for having a sexist culture, and $20 million for the additional fees and expenses, primarily the "attorneys' fees and miscellaneous expenses."
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Riot Will Enter Settlement Over Gender Discrimination Charges Worth $100 Million
A Riot spokesperson released a statement which reads as:
“Three years ago, Riot was at the heart of what became a reckoning in our industry. We had to face the fact that despite our best intentions, we hadn’t always lived up to our values. As a company we stood at a crossroads; we could deny the shortcomings of our culture, or we could apologize, correct course, and build a better Riot. We chose the latter.
We’re incredibly grateful to every Rioter who has worked to create a culture where inclusivity is the norm, where we’re deeply committed to fairness and equality, and where embracing diversity fuels creativity and innovation.
While we’re proud of how far we’ve come since 2018, we must also take responsibility for the past. We hope that this settlement properly acknowledges those who had negative experiences at Riot and demonstrates our desire to lead by example in bringing more accountability and equality to the games industry.”
This follows the report Kotaku released almost three years ago that showed how the 28 women they interviewed mentioned that a "bro culture" was present in the company, where "in some instances, rewards behavior that disadvantages women."