Riot Games, the American game publisher known for games such as Valorant and Wild Rift, has announced that it will cut 530 jobs, representing 11 per cent of its workforce.

CEO Dylan Jadeja emphasised that this decision was made out of necessity and not to satisfy shareholders or meet quarterly targets. Riot Games, part of the Chinese Tencent Group, is known for producing and operating popular computer games such as League of Legends and Teamfight Tactics. The company, headquartered in Los Angeles with offices around the world, is the latest in a growing list of gaming and technology companies that are shedding employees on a large scale.

Management said in an email to employees that it had tried everything to prevent this development, including a hiring freeze. The analysis revealed that the company had become bogged down and had grown too quickly, with investments not yielding the expected return and costs rising faster than revenues. This reduced the scope for experimentation and increased the risk of failure. As a consequence, Riot Games withdrew from some business areas, including the discontinuation of the Riot Forge programme, which distributed external indie games based on the Riot brands. The development team for the online collectible card game Legends of Runterra is also reduced in size.

Since 2018, Riot Games has also maintained two locations in Germany, including a publishing office in Berlin and the Riot Games Arena. The German branch most recently employed 90 people; the extent to which the German locations are affected by the redundancies is still unclear. Riot Games is planning to host the League of Legends European Championship Season Finals in Munich’s Olympiahalle in August 2024 with the support of the city and state of Bavaria.