Riot Games "eliminates" 32 League of Legends roles

Update: In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, Riot Games has confirmed 27 layoffs from its League team, and five further redundancies from its "publishing side."

Original story follows.

Original story: Riot Games has revealed it has "made the tough decision to eliminate some roles."

In a statement posted to X/Twitter, Riot co-founder Marc Merrill assured League of Legends players the studio was "not slowing down work on the game you love."

"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," Merrill's statement continues.

"While team effectiveness is more important than team size, the League team will eventually be even larger than it is today as we develop the next phase of League. For Rioters who are laid off, we’re supporting them with a severance package that includes a minimum of six months' pay, annual bonus, job placement assistance, health coverage, and more."

Merrill finished on asserting "full confidence" in head of League studio Andrei van Roon and executive producer Paul Bellezza, saying leadership had "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."

It is unclear how many people have been impacted by the cuts.

At the beginning of the year, Riot laid off 11% of its workforce, representing 530 employees.