Riot Games, the company behind the popular MOBA League of Legends laid off over 500 employees last month.
In a public statement about “Riot’s Future”, the company explained they were “eliminating” approximately 11% of their workforce.
Riot puts some of the blame on spreading themselves thin on new experiences with projects such as a League of Legends fighting game and MMO in the works, as well as other ongoing games like Teamfight Tactics, Legends of Runeterra, and Valorant.
Since 2019, we’ve made a number of big bets across the company with the goal of making it better to be a player. We jumped headfirst into creating new experiences and broadening our portfolio, and grew quickly as we became a multi-game, multi-experience company — expanding our global footprint, changing our operating model, bringing in new talent to match our ambitions, and ultimately doubling the size of Riot in just a few years.
The news comes shortly after Microsoft announced a massive layoff of over 1900 employees. However, to Riot’s credit they’re offering what appears to be a generous severance package to help affected employees which includes:
- Severance pay
- A cash bonus
- Extended medical benefits
- A free laptop
- Career support
- and more
Riot Games is currently owned by Chinese tech company Tencent.
