Riot Games Lays Off 46 as Wave of Games Industry Job Cuts Continues
Riot Games has laid off 46 employees amidst an ongoing wave of industry mass layoffs.
The League of Legends developer confirmed to journalist Jacob Wolf that it had eliminated the positions, which were largely concentrated in the company’s talent acquisition, recruiting, and publishing departments as well as a few roles in esports and support. Riot employs roughly 4,500 people globally.
Riot Games’ Los Angeles campus. Source: Riot Games
In a statement to the Jacob Wolf Report, a Riot representative called the layoffs part of the “normal course of business.”
Riot Games implemented strategic shifts within a few teams to sharpen our focus in a number of areas. With these shifts, certain roles were eliminated, impacting a total of 46 Rioters. This is part of our normal course of our business: We periodically make changes to our structure and our teams based on what we believe will allow us to deliver the best content and experiences for players. We never make these decisions lightly and will always start from a place of wanting to retain Rioters and have them focus on our highest priorities. While that’s not always possible, it’s our primary goal.
Riot additionally noted that it continues to hire, and has over 150 open positions on its website.
Riot’s layoffs come amidst a much larger wave of ongoing layoffs across tech and media that continue to impact the games sector. Earlier this week, game engine maker Unity laid off over 200 employees. Yesterday, Microsoft laid off 10,000 employees including those at The Coalition, 343 Industries, and Bethesda, while Amazon laid off 18,000 more. Earlier today, Fandom laid off between 40 and 50 employees including editorial staff at both Giant Bomb and GameSpot, just months after it acquired the sites.
Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
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