There will also be waves of layoffs in the gaming industry in 2024. Riot Games has now announced in its own blog post that it will have to lay off employees. This will affect many of the company’s smaller projects.
In a new blog post from Riot, CEO Dylan Jadeja announced that 530 employees from Riot Games worldwide will be laid off. This represents 11 % of the company. He cites the reason that since 2019, many new employees were hired for new projects and ideas, but these projects have not generated the expected returns.
According to Jadeja, the costs have become unsustainable to take risks and experiments:
Our costs have risen to a point where they are no longer bearable, and we have left no room for experiments or failures – which is vital for a creative company like ours.
Dylan Jadeja and Marc Merrill (Riot Games Blog Post)
The layoffs will also affect some smaller projects from Riot. Riot Forge, the publishing label that has released games from indie developers, will be shut down after Bandle Tale and will no longer develop smaller games for the time being.
A total of 6 games have been released under the label A League of Legends Story
:
- Hextech Mayhem
- Ruined King
- Convergence
- Song of Nunu
- Mageseeker
- Bandle Tale (Releasing on February 21)
More about Bandle Tale can be found in this article:
The focus will be on the 4 major games
The card game Legends of Runterra will also be affected by these layoffs. Although the game has a loving community, the costs of the game have reportedly been challenging since release, as development costs more than the game generates, according to Jadeja.
The Legends of Runterra team will be reduced and they want to focus on the PvE mode The Path of Champions
. This mode is the most popular among players. More information about Legends of Runterra is expected in the coming weeks.
In the future, Riot Games aims to focus primarily on its biggest games: League of Legends, Valorant, TFT, and Wildrift. Their vision is more ambitious than ever
. According to the blog post, new modes, events, and a long-term road map can be expected. Additionally, their strategy is to link esports, music, and entertainment even closer with our games
.
Two projects are mentioned separately in the blog post, as their production is supposed to continue despite the layoffs. The fighting game Project L is making great progress, and Arcane Season 2 is still aiming for a November 2024 release. Furthermore, additional projects are planned.
Riot Games promises that the laid-off employees will receive some support and assistance for the upcoming time. In addition to a minimum 6-month severance payment, Riot will also provide bonus payments and continue to assist with health insurance for a certain period.
Riot Games is not the first developer to face such problems at the beginning of 2024. A German studio currently faces a major closure: The most important German gaming studio for role-playing games is likely to shut down
