Riot Games Lays Off League of Legends Team: What’s Behind the Decision?
Riot Games, one of the world’s largest gaming companies known for its legendary multiplayer game League of Legends (LoL), recently announced a restructuring of the team working on the project. Riot Games co-founder Marc Merrill announced this on the social network X, assuring that the changes are aimed at long-term improvement of the game’s quality. Despite the inevitable backlash from the community, the company claims that these decisions are a strategic step for future development.
Why did the company cut back? And what will happen to the employees?
At first glance, the news of staff reductions may seem like an alarming signal for fans of League of Legends and other Riot projects. However, Merrill was quick to dispel rumors of financial difficulties or the need for savings. According to him, the layoffs are in no way related to budget cuts or a decrease in the company’s income. On the contrary, this decision was made to optimize development processes and improve the team structure.
Riot Games has ambitious goals: to ensure that LoL remains one of the most popular and high-quality games for at least another 15 years. To this end, the company plans to focus on attracting key specialists who will help the project evolve in a changing market.
Despite the stressful nature of the situation, Riot Games is trying to minimize the impact on the employees affected by the layoffs. Merrill said that all laid-off employees will receive generous compensation packages. These will include:
- six months’ salary;
- an annual bonus;
- additional benefits that were not disclosed in detail.
This approach demonstrates the company’s commitment to its values, which include respect and care for its employees.
Comparison with previous layoffs
This is not the first time Riot Games has announced staff cuts. In early 2025, the company already laid off about 11% of its employees, which amounted to about 530 people. At that time, the reason given was a desire to focus on a smaller number of high-potential projects. Notably, Riot Games has significantly expanded its staff in recent years. More than doubling its headcount in a short period of time may have been one of the reasons for the current optimization. Rapid growth is often accompanied by an uneven distribution of resources, which may require adjustments to maintain efficiency.
The layoffs in the League of Legends development team are part of a larger strategy for the company. Riot Games is looking to improve not only LoL, but also other key projects such as Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift. The company’s management plans to focus on creating new content, developing functionality, and maintaining a high update release rate. The closure of some projects, such as Riot Forge, also highlights the company’s desire to streamline its resources and focus on high-impact areas. This decision, like the layoffs in the LoL team, may be painful in the short term, but should bring significant benefits in the long term.
