In January, Riot Games trimmed its headcount by around 530. On Tuesday, October 15, 2024, the League of Legends developer went through another round of layoffs. This time, around 32 employees were impacted out of which 27 were people actively working on League of Legends and 5 were from the company’s publishing division.
The impacted Riot Games staff will get a 6-month (minimum) severance package, annual bonus, health coverage, and job placement assistance. Some of the employees impacted by the layoff included character artist Tereza Rozumkova who developed over 23 skins for League of Legends.
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“I’ve just been laid off from Riot Games after 4.5 years as a 3D Character Artist on League of Legends, where I focused on full-time Outsource Management this year,” Rozumkova posted on LinkedIn. “During my time at Riot, I made 23 skins, outsource managed over 40 skins and handled bigger projects like League’s Art & Sustainability Update.”
Character Artist Annie Kwon was also among those impacted by the layoff. She recalled the fun memories of working at Riot Games. In a post on LinkedIn, Kwon wrote, “I’ll never forget my time at Riot and never regret how much I put into every work. I wish everyone the very best with their journeys going forward and hope we can meet again in the future!”
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Founded in 2006, Riot Games has remained committed to changing the way video games are developed, published, and supported for players. Their first release was League of Legends while their latest game is Valorant. The company claims it strives for growth in Esports.
Co-founder of Riot Games Marc Merrill shed more light on the layoff
Riot Games was founded by Marc Merrill and Brandon Beck and has its headquarters in Los Angeles. Following the layoff, Merrill published an article on X, in which he said that the changes were made to ensure “we have the right expertise” that will help League endure for another 15 years.
Co-founder of Riot Games Marc Merrill
“We’ve made changes to our teams and how we work to make sure we can keep improving the League experience now and for the long-term,” Merrill wrote on X. “But I want to be clear: we’re not slowing down work on the game you love. We’re investing heavily in solving today’s challenges faster while also building for the future.”
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“As part of these changes, we’ve made the tough decision to eliminate some roles. This isn’t about reducing headcount to save money—it’s about making sure we have the right expertise so that League continues to be great for another 15 years and beyond.”
Commenting on the original post, Merrill stressed that the size of a team working on a game doesn’t guarantee success. He said some games with small teams turned out amazing while other games with large teams missed the mark. According to him, “Success isn’t about throwing more people or money at a challenge”.
“While the League team will ultimately be larger after these changes, what matters more than size is having the right team, right priorities, and a sustainable approach to delivering what players need. If we’re solving the wrong problems, more resources won’t fix it. It’s about building smarter and healthier, not just bigger.”
While we're on the subject of team size, I want to talk a little about both size and budget, and why they aren’t the right way to measure whether a team will be successful. We’ve definitely been memed in the past for talking about budgets, and rightly so. Success isn’t about…
— Tryndamere (@MarcMerrill) October 15, 2024
Riot Games currently has job openings including the position of associate art director. If you are interested in this role, take a look at the job description, responsibilities, and requirements here.
