As reported, on January 22 – early morning of January 23 (Vietnam time), Riot announced the dismissal of 530 employees (about 11% of the company’s workforce). The reason given was that the company is facing difficulties, and Riot also wants to focus on games that do not require multiplayer. Furthermore, the community has also recognized that several of Riot’s products (like The Ruined King) have not achieved the expected revenue levels. This is also a significant reason why Riot decided to lay off employees, as many of those affected were in departments responsible for Riot’s secondary titles.
However, while claiming to lay off staff to focus on “single-player” games, it is precisely these games, specifically League of Legends, that will suffer the first consequences. Accordingly, one of the most prominent figures laid off from Riot is Grahm McNeil. For those who don’t know, this man is a former editor at Riot and the author of several champion bios such as Azir, Jinx, Lux, Garen, Varus, among others. It can be said that almost every champion that has been and is a visual of League of Legends has a backstory created by him. Grahm McNeil’s dismissal means that the lore of the champions can now only be completely changed rather than developed from the original.
Next is Riot Llama – the person behind the rework of Skarner, as well as the creator of champions like Smolder and K’Sante. According to many viewers, Llama being “out of the game” means that Skarner’s rework could be stalled, and this champion may once again be pushed into obscurity by Riot. Not to mention, this could also affect Smolder and K’Sante in the future when Riot wants to make adjustments to these champions.
It can be said that Riot’s decision to lay off a host of employees, many of whom have contributed immensely to the publisher’s games, may be a necessary move but carries many risks. At this moment, the community of Riot’s games will scrutinize future products even more closely. At the same time, Riot will also face difficulties if they want to exploit the lore of champions to develop cinematic products like the case of the Arcane series.