After announcing a huge round of layoffs at the start of the year, Riot Games is making another round of changes to its League of Legends team.
Image Credit: Riot Games
Riot Games – not reducing headcount to save money
The announcement was first seen on an X post by Rioter Marc “Tryndamere” Merrill, who said changes have been made to the League of Legends team to improve the overall experience and “for the long term”.
While it may initially look like another round of layoffs, the Rioter quickly explained the team will “eventually be even larger than it is today as we develop the next phase of League” and for the 15 years to come and beyond.
Just like with the previous layoff, Tryndamere stated the company will support those impacted with a severance package that includes a minimum of six months’ pay, an annual bonus, job placement assistance, health coverage, and more.
With League of Legends turning 15 years old in about one month’s time, the news comes as a surprise considering the big round of layoffs at the start of the year, which saw Riot reducing its workforce by around 11%. Over 500 employees were let go, severely impacting the publishing label Riot Forge and the team behind Legends of Runeterra.
The reasons behind the restructuring
The Rioter has been emphasizing the company’s goal to improve its effectiveness, adding that the goal is to have a “sustainable approach to delivering what players need”. Several former employees have already publicly stated they were impacted.
According to a report by GameDeveloper, a total of 33 employees were let go, 28 of which were active League of Legends developers, while the five remaining came from Riot’s publishing division.
On the game side of things, Tryndamere revealed earlier in March that the MMO game title was “reset” due to feeling too similar to the main game title.
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