Riot Games, the developers of League of Legends, is laying off a number of developers at the company. The announcement came via a lengthy article posted by co-founder Marc Merrill.
The layoffs come as the company works to “make sure [Riot] can keep improving the League experience now and for the long-term.”
Merrillsays that the decision to make the cuts were “tough”, but it wasn’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,” he said, also mentioning the company’s goal of solving challenges faster.
“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.”
He added that all employees being let go from the company will get a severance package that includes a minimum of six months’ pay, their annual bonus, job placement assistance, and health coverage.
“Thank you all for playing and for being part of the League community,” Merrill said to close his statement.
In total, 32 employees were let go from Riot Games. Of those 32, 28 were developers on League of Legends, according to a Riot spokesperson. Earlier this year, Riot Games laid off 530 employees.
With Riot’s layoffs, the games industry has seen over 13,100 known jobs lost in 2024. Based on multiple sources, however, the real number is likely around 16,000 at this time.
For more Insider Gaming, read about Bandai Namco holding layoffs of their own along with cancelling multiple projects. And don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter.
