Riot Games is cutting jobs League of Legends team. Studio co-founder, co-chairman and chief product officer Marc Merrill announced the layoffs today. On X. “This isn’t about cutting staff to save money — it’s about making sure we have the right experience for the League to continue to be great for another 15 years and beyond,” Merrill said. A Riot Games representative told Engadget that the move will eliminate 32 jobs across the company.
The spin is behind the scenes of the developer, especially with Merrill insisting that “we’re not slowing down on the game you love” and that the team is “ultimately going to be even bigger than it is today.” We’re developing the next phase of the league.” He did not elaborate on what that new focus would be or which departments would bear the brunt of the cuts.
It’s a brave move for Riot to do now, especially since then League of Legends right in the middle of the highly watched World Cup. We have received confirmation that the esports team will not be affected by the layoffs. The company also laid off early 2024 layoffs 11 percent its global workforce. This move had more impact workers “outside the main development”, i.e League of Legends the team probably didn’t see any changes at the time. The company also announced that it will shut down its Riot Forge publishing project in January.
All of these changes point to a bigger picture of a shifting and narrowing focus for Riot. After the great success, the company tried many new ideas League of Legends; first person team shooter, mobile auto chess fighter, fighting game and animated television showto name a few. But it looks like Riot’s probationary period may be coming to an end.
