Riot Games has announced the layoff of approximately 530 employees, accounting for 11% of its workforce. The League of Legends creator is also shutting down its five-year-old publishing group, Riot Forge, as stated in the announcement made by the Tencent-owned company on Monday.
The company wrote two posts addressing the affected employees and its players. The post for employees included details about a severance package and other benefits such as job placement services, counseling, visa support, and new laptops for those who need to replace their work computers. The most affected teams were outside of core development.
CEO Dylan Jadeja expressed deep sadness about the layoffs and extended gratitude to the affected employees for their dedication to the company and its players. He assured them of the company’s commitment to supporting them through the transition.
In the note to players, Jadeja emphasized that the layoffs were unavoidable yet necessary for the company. He also highlighted the areas that will see immediate impact from the organizational changes, including Riot Forge and the digital collectible card game Legends of Runeterra.
Riot Forge, which partnered with independent developers to create new League of Legends stories, will officially shut down after the release of its sixth game titled Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story. The focus for Legends of Runeterra will shift towards improving its single-player adventure mode, the “Path of Champions.”
Riot Games joins other video game publishers in making job cuts, including Epic Games, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, and others.
