TLDR: Riot is downscaling. The severance package is great but it’s another round of layoffs in the industry.
This will also majorly affect Legends of Runeterra. They’re putting the game on life support it seems, and will focus on the PvE mode.
They’re also shutting down Riot Forge, their collaboration with other studios to make smaller games with their IP.
I just hope that these companies don’t have the gall to complain about a lack of manpower or expertise availability a few years down the line. Because by coordinating all these layoffs, they are currently creating a vacuum in which a lot of professionals in the industry won’t have any chance to acquire experience and develop their skills, and many will probably have to change their career trajectory significantly just to ensure their economic well-being. And once they see how greener the grass is outside the videogame industry, let me assure you, they won’t be coming back.
If you are not willing to stick with your professionals through your thin, you don’t deserve their availability and effort through your thick.
Don’t worry, they will.
Companies aren’t like people with friends who hold them accountable for lying.
I mean, the whole point of layoffs, in any industry, is to get rid of more experienced staff who are higher paid, and replace them with noobs that you can pay less.