Tencent's Riot Games to lay off over 500 workers
Riot Games, the Los Angeles-based online gaming company behind hits like League of Legends, is set to lay off 530 employees. This constitutes about 11% of its global workforce. In a blog post featuring a letter from CEO Dylan Jadeja, it was revealed that the layoffs will mainly affect teams not involved in core development. Riot Games, a subsidiary of Tencent Holdings, has been struggling with a lack of "focus" and too many ongoing projects.
Riot Games will now focus on its live games portfolio
In his letter, Jadeja admitted that the company has made significant investments that haven't paid off as expected, leading to unsustainable costs. This comes at a time when digital game publishers are facing challenges in expanding their audience, with high inflation causing consumers to hold off on buying pricey titles or sticking to fewer games. To address these issues, Riot Games will now focus on its live games portfolio, including League of Legends, Valorant, Teamfight Tactics, and Wild Rift.
Refocusing on core titles and dropping projects
According to a separate blog post by Jadeja and co-founder Marc Merrill, the company will halt new game development under "Riot Forge" and cut some staff and features in Legends of Runeterra. Tencent, which acquired a majority stake in Riot Games back in 2011, also holds a stake in US video game developer Epic Games. With these changes, Riot Games aims to streamline its operations and concentrate on its most successful titles.
