Riot Games to lay off 530 people and close Riot Forge Publishing Division
Riot Games has announced large-scale cuts. She intends to part with 11% of the staff.
Legends of Runeterra
The main thing from the Riot Games statement:
- In 2019, Riot Games began to grow very rapidly: the company expanded its presence in the international market, changed its operating model and doubled its staff. She also made significant investments, some of which did not pay off. As a result, the company's expenses became unbearable;
- Riot Games has taken on too many projects and lost focus. Now she will pay more attention to her key titles: League of Legends, VALORANT, Teamfight Tactics and League of Legends: Wild Rift;
- Initially, Riot Games hoped to avoid layoffs, but the measures taken proved ineffective;
- Most layoffs will take place in departments that are not directly related to development;
- However, the layoffs will affect the Legends of Runeterra team. Released in 2020, the card game failed to achieve good results: previously, Riot Games compensated for the cost of Legends of Runeterra with the help of its other projects, but now it is impractical. The remaining team members will focus on working on the Path of Champions mode;
- Riot Games will also close Riot Forge, the publishing division, with the support of which independent studios produced games in the League of Legends universe. The last game under the Riot Forge label will be Bandle Tale: A League of Legends Story;
- According to Riot Games, she did not go on layoffs in order to appease investors or achieve planned quarterly figures. They are necessary so that the company can continue to offer players high-quality content.
