What the Riot layoffs mean for future projects
Riot recently laid off over 500 staff. Here's what will happen to Riot's games moving forward.
The Riot layoffs rocked the gaming world yesterday as it meant over 500 workers (around 11% of its workforce) were suddenly out of jobs, plus the future of the company’s titles is in question.
In an official statement, Riot explained why such a drastic layoff was made. There, it was mentioned that “some of the significant investments [they’ve] made aren’t paying off the way [they] expected them to” leading to costs being unsustainable.
While Riot has detailed its rather generous severance package and benefits for those laid off, these job cuts still no doubt sting for those affected. Aside from working at Riot being a dream for many of its staff, being laid off at this time is far from ideal given the state of the job market in the gaming and tech sector.
With this huge round of layoffs, some may be wondering how Riot titles will be affected. Well, based on the statement, the answer is pretty clear for most titles.
Riot Forge is no more
Perhaps the most drastic result of the Riot layoffs is that Riot Forge will be shut down. While Bandle Tale will still be released, it will be the last game to be released under this label.
Riot Forge is Riot’s division for single-player experiences that are co-developed by external studios, including games like Ruined King and Song of Nunu. With its closure, Riot will no longer produce single-player experiences within the world of Runeterra anytime soon. Riot said that it won’t close the doors to single-player titles, but it won’t be part of the company’s direction moving forward.
Legends of Runeterra will no longer be a focus
It may not be a single player game, but Legends of Runeterra development will be drastically cut down following the layoffs. Riot stated that the game hasn’t performed as well as they’d hoped. Thus, the team working on the game will be reduced, with a focus on the ‘Path of Champions’ PvE game mode.
Because of this, LoR players will not get much in the way of new multiplayer-focused content moving forward, meaning the game will essentially be put on life support.
League of Legends, TFT, Valorant, and Wild Rift will be its key focus titles
Riot’s premier multiplayer titles won’t be affected though as the company stated that League of Legends, Valorant, TFT, and Wild Rift will be their main focus moving forward following the layoffs.
This should mean fans of the game as well as their respective esports circuits will still be able to expect big events and updates this year, and hopefully the years that follow.
Riot’s fighting game and MMO: Their status is still up in the air
Finally, there’s the topic of Riot’s Project L fighting game and the upcoming MMO. The statement did not mention anything about these games, meaning they should at the very least not be canceled.
As for a development update and their upcoming launch, it’s possible that Riot will address these in the upcoming RiotNow showcase which will happen in early February. For now though, there’s no word yet on a specific date for the event.
Source: Riot