Riot Games has announced a new round of layoffs, this time affecting its League of Legends development team.
The company’s co-founder, Marc Merrill, shared the news on X, explaining that the decision was not aimed at cutting costs but rather ensuring that the team has the necessary expertise to keep the game thriving for the long term.
Riot confirmed that 32 roles will be eliminated, with 27 cuts from the League of Legends team and five from the publishing division. Merrill stated that while team size is important, effectiveness is the key focus, and he assured that the team will eventually grow as they work on the game’s next phase.
Focus on Expertise, Not Size
Merrill emphasized that League of Legends is not slowing down, despite these cuts. He did not provide details about which departments will be impacted the most or what the upcoming focus areas will be, but he insisted that the changes are necessary to continue developing the game successfully over the next 15 years.
Riot also confirmed that its esports team will not be affected by the layoffs, even though the announcement comes during the ongoing League of Legends World Championships.
Riot’s History of Workforce Reductions in 2024
This is not the first time Riot has downsized its workforce this year. At the start of 2024, the company laid off 530 employees, or around 11% of its global workforce, in a move that primarily affected positions outside of core development. At the time, Riot CEO Dylan Jadeja explained that the cuts were necessary to maintain a long-term focus on player satisfaction rather than meeting short-term financial goals. Jadeja’s reasoning mirrored Merrill’s current explanation, highlighting the need to prioritize expertise over sheer workforce size.
The announcement has stirred reactions online, with some fans criticizing Riot’s corporate language, suggesting that layoffs contradict the promises of maintaining focus and momentum. One user on X suggested that the layoffs are a cost-cutting measure, despite Riot’s statements to the contrary. Merrill defended the decision, saying that expanding the team without solving the right problems wouldn’t lead to better outcomes, reiterating that the focus is on working smarter and building sustainably.
Riot has also been scaling back in other areas, notably with the closure of its Riot Forge publishing initiative earlier in 2024.
